Neo Tokyo
by Sylo Corden
Summary: A virus hacks into Torrin's computer throwing the runner world into uncertainty, can Ghost stop the virus being spread? What will be the cost?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The alarm woke me.

I groaned, rolling over to hit the snooze button on my comm. unit, but still the beeping continued. My mind tired I growled and hit the snooze again, but still it beeped. Then it hit me, the alarm that I was hearing.

I was being hacked

I leapt from the bed, hastily grabbing my comm. from the dresser as I went, I stumbled down the stairs too small for my large feet to my main comm. unit. My crashing footsteps disturbing the huge hell hound in the corner of the living room. I growled and logged on. A virus, tapping in from the hard-line.

Shit

I pulled the hard-line cable from the wall, hoping to slow its progress, but it was too late, it had been given plenty of time to download, but I had no idea if it had set up an outbound signal. I typed furiously trying to build firewalls, the virus smashing through them as quickly as they were built.

I switched tactics. I burnt files, destroying years of work before the virus could get to them, the enemy made of numbers and figures crashed through each barrier, copying files. I hit my personal comm., brow sweating with the effort to keep up, _this bitch knew my game_.

"Tor?" a voice on the line answered "Do you have any idea what time it is over here?"

"Clearwater has been compromised" I growled

" . . . shit . . ." the line went dead

The virus hit me harder, locking out my keyboard I was now helpless, and could only watch as the virus ripped through the files. I had no other choice

I smashed the comm. unit, breaking the casing apart in my hands to get to the hard drive. That went into the microwave to fry the drive, the discs sparking in the heat. My personal comm. beeped.

"It's gone Tor"

"How much did they get?"

"Enough" came the answer

"What about . . ."

"She's fine" the voice interrupted "her file is gone, but they didn't get chance to copy it. They got yours though" he said "just the contacts and basic info"

"And the deck?" I asked

"Some are gone, but the rest seem to be safe" the voice said "I'll let those that have been copied know to lay low" the voice waited patiently for my thoughts "You need to make yourself scarce for a while" he prompted

"Do we know how?" I asked, the microwave now catching fire

"I have my suspicions, but nothing concrete" said the voice "where will you go?"

I pondered that for a moment "the less you know the better" I decided "Call Amm, tell him the problem" I said hanging up. A light slender creature jumped from the kitchen table to my shoulder, curling his tail around my neck, I idly scratched his huge ears.

They'd gone after Clearwater, a direct shot. The work had been good too, the player knew my style and what my system was capable of. That meant someone I knew, or at the very least someone who knew about Clearwater. Only a handful of people knew about it, and most of those were dead. I sighed and clutched the crucifix hanging around my neck.

"You enjoy testing me" I murmured to Him

I was going to have to go into hiding for a while, what was worse I wouldn't be able to tell her. She would insist on going if she knew, but it would be too dangerous, the further she was from all this the better. I'd make the few calls I needed then disappear.

She was going to be so _pissed_ at me.

 **A/N:** Hi peeps, thanks for reading, this is the start of the latest story from our Shadowrun games. If you're new to my work you might want to read back on some of my other stories as it will make this one have a lot more sense. I'll put the reading order in my profile, I recommend at least reading the Chicago campaign. But if not then hopefully there's enough back story fill ins for you to enjoy. As always feel free to PM me with any questions.

Enjoy! xx


	2. Chapter 2

I walked the corridor of the Kabal in easy strides, I felt on top of the world in that moment. A small pin badge amulet on my collar signified my recent successes in completing my initiation. I had come here to learn how to control my magic, no mean feat when you carried as much energy as I did and it had taken time, but perseverance was now paying off. I beamed at myself as I walked, barely noticing my name being called at first.

I turned to brother Ethan, he was young, barely sixteen, human in a world of Orcs, Trolls and Elves, but he was the strongest mage I had ever encountered, arcane spells just came naturally to him, I had once perceived him on the astral plane, figures such as myself were ghost like, not all there in that world, but Ethan was bright and solid, as if he was a creature borne solely to be in that world, as if his whole body was made of mana. He was still of course a sixteen year old, and therefore full of hormones, he followed me round with this sense of awe, as if it were I that were the greater mage.

"Brother Ghost, the meal is ready, are you not attending?" he asked brushing his blonde hair from his eyes, in this place women were a rarity and therefore the title brother was awarded to those who were initiated, male or female. I had pondered the reason behind that once, as there were as many women mages as there were men, in the end I guessed it came down to the fact women like to study magic in the open air rather than a dusty temple.

"As a matter of fact I'm just heading that way now" I told him with a smile "Walk with me?" The young mage grinned and took a pace beside me, trying not to trip on his overly long robes "How is Whisperer coping with your last task?" I asked "Last I heard he was defeating your puzzles faster than ever"

Brother Ethan blushed a little, it was rare that we got to speak, and he was always blushing

"He's got the hardest one yet" he said "I think this one will take him at least a week, I gave him this last one on my way to the dining hall" he smiled and shot me a warning look "You're not to help him this time" He said, I held up my hands in a silent promise.

"Don't need any" a smooth voice said behind me, I managed to hold back from jumping, Ethan however, not so much, a slightly high pitched squeak managed to escape him as Whisperer slid up beside the young mage. Dressed in shirt and trousers, he looked very modern and somewhat out of place in this dusty temple, not an initiate but a mage none the less he was here to learn about different magic types and control, he pushed his glasses up his nose and handed Ethan a slip of paper, his answer presumably. Ethan's shoulders dropped and he nodded, then glanced across at me, blushing all the more. He usually felt very much the child around me if there were others, he shoved the slip into his robe, stumbling on the hem a little as he did so. Bless, he tried hard to be seen as a real adult, I only hoped the rest of the Kabal started to see what I saw in him, other than his mage skill.

"What was the puzzle this time?" I asked, curious what Ethan would think was so difficult, that Whisperer had solved in less than ten minutes, possibly even straight away, Ethan shook his head about to refuse, but Whisperer talked over him

"I am fire and I am ice, I see the world in spring, yet am cool like the heart of winter, reach for me but be dismayed as I am untouchable. I am the church window; coloured glass fractured but made to be the whole beauty. Old Gods may scar the heart of those that look upon me. What am I?" Whisperer stared at me patiently; I looked to Ethan who continued to burn crimson.

"It's a beautiful riddle" I told him, Old gods? Windows? Light perhaps? I mused a while, pausing at the entrance to the great hall where the rest of the brothers had taken their seats and were already eating "I admit I have no idea" I told him, Whisperer gave me a surprised look for a moment, shaking his head almost as if he were a little disappointed. Ethan however looked relieved; perhaps my ignorance helped his ego. Whisperer waved me to our seats, ever the gentleman he pulled the seat out for me and pouring me a glass of water. He did this every meal time, yet hardly ever said a word to me, I watched him fill the glasses on the rest of the table that he could reach, murmur of thanks from the brothers as he did so . . . still he had started out as a bartender, I guess maybe this helped him feel comfortable, here, an outsider, it must bring him a measure of comfort doing a familiar task. Opposite Ethan smiled at a slip of a servant girl, his face burning red, he hid his face in his goblet pretending to drink, a crush, very sweet.

Master Wodan had taken well to the "stray" I had brought back with me, at first he did not appear pleased, even less so when he found out that Whisperer was actually the new king pin of the A52's a secret organisation of thieves, assassins, hackers and communications experts. Indeed it was a tense few hours whilst the decision to allow Whisperer to stay was made. Master Wodan had requested a mind link with myself to corroborate my experiences with him. Lucky for me Wodan was not the type to fuss over the very first time I had laid eyes on the young mage. I trusted him, and that it seemed was enough for Master Wodan. The old Orc shuffled to my chair, laying a heavy hand on my shoulder, he smelled like the temple, all dust and old stone, comforting.

"The keeper tells me you have completed your quest, I must congratulate you on your achievements, it hasn't been so long since you joined our fold and you have already made your mark here" he glanced across to Brother Ethan "on some more than others" he gave a gruff laugh and continued his shuffling walk to his seat near the head of the table. My spare food was divided amongst the brothers, I was given the same amount as everyone else but usually ate little, several of the older mages had cottoned on to this fact and sat closer to get a share, Brother Kalin was particularly pleased having acquired my bread roll, with his aging teeth soft bread was a favourite for him. The meal passed quietly, a few murmured conversations between the brothers on latest scrolls, and new spells, but for me it was silent as always, with the exception of murmured thanks as Whisperer refilled my empty cup. Oddly about half way into the meal Whisperer excused himself, I glanced his way but he gave me a thin smile, I needn't follow.

"I do hope you'll visit us again soon Brother Ghost" Brother Kalin said to me from across the table "I've enjoyed your company here, you keep the young ones on their toes" he laughed heartily, _visit?_

"Brother Kalin I'm not here to visit I'm here to . . . "I began

"Needn't worry, you'll remember everything, but there's a lot you'll have to deal with this time" he continued, Brother Ethan glanced across at the old man, the old mage's eyes began to cloud with white, a far away look in his eyes, the smile faded and he looked saddened, Ethan placed a hand on his shoulder, several of the nearby mages ceased their conversation to listen as Kalin croaked out what he saw. "He's close to you this time, he knows you're getting stronger, strong enough to go after him, but you _mustn't_ child, he controls such power, he has only hurt on his mind" The old man coughed, his breathing becoming heavy and erratic. Fear made me rise and jump the table to his side, Ethan and Grenadine were already there supporting him as his shoulders sagged, his chest shaking with racking coughs

"Kalin, turn off your sight, please!" I begged him, the old mage's eyes now pure white, he saw nothing of those of us that held him, he slumped, almost falling from his chair, Ethan helped me lower him to the ground before he could fall and hurt himself, Master Wodan, was coming forward from the commotion, Kalin coughed again and there was the smell of copper "Kalin, turn it off!" I shouted, cradling the old man's head. Those white eyes snapped to lock onto mine, I knew he saw me then, fear crossed his face.

"Sylo" he croaked, I tensed at the use of my name "Run, where he cannot reach you, it is not yet time, beware the monster inside" he coughed, his body bucking beneath our hands, Master Wodan replaced Ethan at his side, and began to chant, I felt healing energies flow from him, others around us took up the chant, more coughing and blood splashed Kalin's robe, the old man's hand reached up and grabbed at my robe pulling me closer. " _Please_ Sylo" Kalin whispered, I was crying now, tears streaming, I could not help him and he was suffering, I held his head steady as he bucked and started to fit.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ethan!" I shouted, the young mage paralysed by the scene before him, he snapped his head to look at me "Cancel his spell, break it!" Ethan was one of few mages here with the ability to take Kalin's sight away

"But he'll go into shock, it could kill him" Ethan said shaking his head, scared, he was sweating

"He's _dying_ Ethan!" I cried "Please!" Wide eyed he nodded and sat beside the old man's breaking body

"Heaven hold him steady" He whispered then channelled energy, drawing it from the very air around him. Beneath me Kalin cried out in pain, tears streaming.

"Run child!" he cried "He is coming for you!" at that moment Ethan's spell hit him wholly and hard, there was the audible crack of bone then Kalin's body went limp

"Kalin?!" I checked the old man's breathing, shallow but there, Wodan struck up a new chant, The Master looked to me, his eyes telling me to pull away so the healers could take him to the infirmary. Strong warm arms lifted me, pulling me from Kalin, I struggled, but I was too numb and in shock to resist much, Ethan, as numb as I was moved back as they carried Kalin away, stepping back and collapsing into the old man's chair, the young mage's eyes found mine, he was worn, trembling. "Thank you Ethan" I told him, he nodded numbly, the rest of the Brothers began murmured conversations, the meal now decidedly over they began to depart the room, no doubt to discuss the events that had just taken place. Warm arms still held me steady, and I realised I was trembling, _my name, Kalin had called me by my name_. I turned to find Whisperer holding me, he looked concerned, his eyes not on me however, but on the table of abandoned food, dishes half empty, half eaten. He pulled me away slowly, gently, Ethan now conversing with another brother did not see us step into the shadows.

"Cast a veil" he whispered "And stay quiet" _What? Why?_ I asked him with my eyes, but cast the spell anyway, slowly disappearing entirely from view, still he held me, there was no real need to, my magic stronger and more focused now I didn't need contact, but after what I had just seen it was somewhat comforting to have someone else close by. He leaned to whisper into my ear "Watch for the servants as they come to clear the table, keep your eyes on where Kalin had been sitting" _the servants?_ We waited, impatient; I held my nervousness until the last of the brothers had left the great hall.

Silence was loud; I had never truly understood the phrase until now, but it was fitting. After a short time there was movement in the room, a young servant girl entered pushing a large trolley, the same servant girl I had noticed Ethan looking at earlier. Expecting her to start at one of the near sides and work down I was very much surprised to find her walk straight to my seat, she glanced nervously around and I held my breath despite knowing I was invisible to her eyes, she looked about carefully around the table, setting her eyes on Kalin's place. Leaning across she removed the half eaten bread roll to tuck into her pocket, she then began to move to the furthest end of the great table and began clearing away the dishes as normal. I felt Whisperer move, his arms gone I had to shift my perception to that of astral in order to see his ghostly form walk towards the servant girl. She screamed as he caught her up in his arms, pinning her to the rough wood of the table. I dispelled my cast; she might think him to be after something she wasn't willing to give. The girl's eyes widened with shock when she saw him, in the corridor leading to the kitchen there was the rattle of more servant trolleys.

"Who sent you?" Whisperer asked, I felt instantly the push of magic, he was influencing her to answer, the girl began to cry, but said nothing "Who sent you?" he asked again. Several servants entered the hall, worried looks on their faces, I held up a hand lest they start to panic. Again Whisperer asked his questions, I told a servant to fetch one of the Masters "Ghost, her pocket" Whisperer said, I nodded moving forward to remove the bread roll, _my_ bread roll, so someone had been after me, Kalin's hurt was _my_ fault.

Master Wodan entered the room, ushering the servants away, he placed a hand on Whisperer and bid him to draw back. He muttered something beneath his breath and the servant girl went limp, but still conscious, she would be unable to move.

"Tell me little one, who gave you this bread?" he asked, I almost started shaking with the force of his influence, the magic was incredibly strong, the girl cried in earnest, her body bending in pain, her eyes wide, that much power would be jarring like razor blades in her mind but still did not speak, _how?_ _How under that presence could she not say who she had been speaking with? Unless_ . . . The pressure of master Wodan's magic increased further, the air felt heavy and thick with it, had I still been viewing the astral world the power might have appeared solid and impassable. The girl began screaming and my heart clenched.

"Master Wodan?" I asked gently placing a hand on the old Orc's arm, I could feel the protectiveness of the Master, a member of his family had been hurt, a second targeted, all right under his very nose, and he wanted answers. "Master Wodan?" I tried again, this time stepping between him and the screaming servant girl. The old Master's focus wavered for a second, enough for me to catch him directly in the eye. "Master, can you not see? She is protecting someone she loves"

"She would love a murderer?" he growled he moved to gain sight of the girl again, I stepped before him once more, Whisperer catching on stood beside me. "This is not your place King Pin" the Orc growled "Step aside"

"Master _please_ she is afraid for someone, she is protecting them, your spell will not work whilst she believes that the person she loves will come to harm if she tells you what she knows!" I had heard rumours that truly loving someone protected your mind against the force of influence, if you believed in something hard enough you could withstand even a Master's power. "Someone she loves is being threatened, it is the only reason for her strength of mind" I tried to sound calm, rational "I want to know what happened to Kalin too Master, but if you push her too hard she will die and you will have still learnt nothing" At this the Master glanced from the girl to Whisperer and then to me, the anger fading from him, his great shoulders sagged heavily.

"It is a sad day when your pupil speaks greater wisdom than you do" he muttered "Very well, I will push her no longer." He turned to Whisperer "I would have you see this through, get me some information I can use" he said, he looked at me through tired eyes as I pulled the slip of a girl close to me, murmuring reassurances "Kalin is alive, but barely, I do not want such troubles in this temple, deal with your demons" and with that he turned and left me. _Demons?_ I had brought trouble to Wodan, Kalin had almost died, a girl's family likely held captive, just by my being here. Torrin had been right, I was too well known and I was attracting trouble; I needed to get as far away from the people I cared about as possible. If someone wanted my attention they had certainly got it.

". . . listening Ghost?" my mind snapped back to the present, Whisperer gave me a worried look, the girl still crying into my robe, he sighed heavily shoving his glasses up his nose as he did so and brushed his hair from his eyes. "We should go somewhere quiet where we can speak with her" he said, I glanced down at the shaking girl and nodded. "Come, we'll take her to my room" he led the way; the rest of the servant crew began tentatively moving back into the room to clear the dinner items.


	4. Chapter 4

Whisperer's room was not quite what I had expected, though I admit I wasn't really sure _what_ I had been expecting. The room was huge; nearly five times the size of my small room. A large double bed sat against one wall, the sheets covered in books and papers, there were book cases crammed full of texts, the desk littered with further volumes, and pages of hand written notes were everywhere, each surface was a chaos of literature. The rest of the room however was pristine, the open wardrobe contained pressed shirts, a pair of smoothly polished boots sat at the foot of the bed, laces tucked neatly, the wash basin and jug were filed with fresh water, the towel clean and folded, on the night stand a pocket watch sat atop a piece of paper on which I recognised Ethan's rough scrawl. The air smelled fresh but bookish. It seemed that Whisperer was ordered in life with the exception of research, as if the logical mind had to relax and unravel in order to jumble the jigsaw of life into something more like sense. Even the writing on the pages was clean, crisp and easily understood.

The girl was encouraged to sit in one of the large seats, the huge wingback made the girl seem even more like a child. Though she was sixteen, she was a tiny creature, with a frame that looked like it would shatter if you held it too tightly. She was silent now, though tears still ran freely down her face, Whisperer handed her a damp cloth to clean up, she took it in trembling fingers and wiped her face, simply clearing them before the tears continued. Whisperer gave me a look that suggested that perhaps I should start; he began moving books into less haphazard piles, a way of seeming less intense and dangerous to the frightened girl.

"I know you're scared" I told her sitting on the floor beside the chair, it was better to sit below a frightened person than over them, reduce the intimidation factor a little "I'm not going to hurt you in any way, I'm not even angry at you for what you did, I just need to know who it was that told you to give me the bread roll" there was silence, save for the gentle shuffling of Whisperer's books and papers. I placed a gentle hand over the girls own "Who did they take from you?" I asked quietly. The girl stiffened, I was right, she _was_ protecting someone. "Whisperer?" I called over my shoulder

"Hmmm?" came the reply

"Would you recite for me the text about scrying for loved ones?" I knew the text but that wasn't the point, Whisperer strode over to a bookcase which looked as if it would collapse at any moment under the strain of so many texts, pulling a slim red volume out as if from nowhere, so it was _organised chaos_.

"The power to find objects has long been a wished for ability dating back for as long as man has ever wanted for anything, in particular items which belonged to a person once and have gone missing, stolen or lost are usually . . . " Whisperer's voice, clear and calm began reading through the text, I mumbled a small spell beneath my breath, willing the power of it to expand outward like a bubble. Whisperer's voice stopped and there was silence.

"Now then" I said looking to the small girl "We're in a special bubble that traps sound, no sound can get in or out, no one can hear you, this spell is so good at blocking sound that even if you were on the telephone the sound would not travel down the receiver to the person on the other side, so if you have a tracking device on you then you can speak freely, no one will hear what you have to tell me" The girl's eyes grew wide as she watched Whisperer's pacing, his lips moving but she heard no sound of his voice or of his footsteps. "Please tell me what happened" I said drawing her eyes back to mine "What's your name?" I asked, feeling silly that I had been here so long without learning it

"Eleanor" she whispered back, I had to strain to hear her, despite the silence in the bubble

"I promise I will help you, I will stop whoever did this to you" I kept my gaze open and honest, but I let some of the fire show, not only was I telling the truth, but I wanted her to know that I meant every word about stopping the bad guys She nodded numbly

"A man gave me the bread roll and told me that my baby sister would die unless I made sure the bread was delivered to your plate, he also told me I wouldn't see her again if I told anyone about him" I stroked the back of her hand soothingly

"How old is your sister?"

"Ten"

"Did you recognise the man?" there was a moment of hesitancy and something else . . . confusion before Eleanor slowly nodded "Who was it?" again she paused looking very reluctant "I won't let him hurt you and your sister, I promise" I told her, but still she looked uncomfortable, finally she spoke again

"It was Brother Ethan" she whispered, my face must have given away my disbelief as she started and continued "Oh but it _wasn't_ , it _looked_ like him, but it didn't look like him at all" she sounded so desperate, I suddenly realised she was clutching my hand tightly, eyes wide in fear, pleading "It _wasn't_ him, oh but it was!" She started crying again. I put the pieces into place.

"So it was an imposter?" I asked quietly, Eleanor nodded furiously, adamant of this fact. But I had to be sure "How could you tell?" I asked "What gave him away?" she shrunk back into the chair

"His eyes" she whispered "He had cruel eyes, Ethan never looks at me like that, never he . . . he . . ." she trailed off, her face burning red. I understood then, she had known Ethan was not the real threat because she was in love with him. The imposter could not have known that the girl he had chosen would see him as exactly that, as an imposter . . . or could he? The more I thought about it the more I realised that she might have been chosen _because_ she was in love with Brother Ethan. It was well known that Ethan liked me, and that he had a young boy's crush, if it were known that this girl had a crush on Ethan then I would be seen as competition, if she were to be caught they would place the crime on her shoulders, an act of jealousy. A cold blow and one I would not forgive lightly.

"And Ethan? Does he know how you feel?" She blushed hugely, hiding her face in her hair, her free hand going to her throat to play with a pendant that hung there, a simple thing, cut wood with a leather thong, the wood brightly polished and worn, she handled it a lot. "May I see?" I asked hand outstretched, she blushed again and slowly removed the pendant. The wood was a simple cut disc, a faint tingle travelled up my skin as I held it; shifting my gaze to astral I looked again, and was put in awe. The very grain of the wood swirled forming the shape of a butterfly which flapped its delicate lace like wings, a moving magical pendant, and it was beautiful. To anyone without the sight it was simply a neatly cut piece of polished wood, but to a mage it was a piece of art, and I realised, a declaration of love. "You're in love" I said softly with a smile "You're both so much in love, but you can't tell anyone because as a young Master, Ethan isn't allowed to take a wife" I handed her back the pendant "it's beautiful, truly" I said, she smiled at me, her hand tracing the pendant edges. "You're awakened" I said suddenly realising that if the pendant's true beauty could only be seen by the sight then that meant . . .

"I am" she whispered "I'm not very strong, Ethan caught me trying to make a spoon move on its own" she said "It's actually how we met, he taught me how to control my power, little though it is" I studied the girl carefully with my sight, she was very weak, her aura only just within the spectrum, I would not have seen it had I not been specifically looking for it, but she had enough to see the design.

"Why didn't you approach Master Wodan with your gift?" I asked, Eleanor blushed again

"He's a little scary, and I'm really not that strong, and the only other women here are really strong like you" she looked me in the eye for the first time "I wanted to be more like you and be strong enough to join the circle, Ethan wanted to talk to you about your powers but never could get you alone long enough to ask" so that explained the young Brother always trying to speak to me, trying to catch me alone, flustered and embarrassed, he'd not a crush, but needed advice. In a way I was a little relieved, I had worried that when it came time to leave it would be hard on the boy, or that a rejection might make him withdraw, but I admit I was also a little disappointed, I guess every girl likes to think someone out there fancies her. "He likes you" Eleanor said.

"Well I'm sure he likes you more" I said with a smile, the girl simply smiled at me

"Not Ethan, _him_ " She pointed to where Whisperer was continuing his movements around the room, book in hand reading aloud, though still no sound passed through. I felt my cheeks flush "I've seen him watching you" she continued "He doesn't say much but I can see it" I looked away, a little uncomfortable with where this was going. I turned back to the matter at hand.

"This imposter" I said "Where did he speak with you?"

"In my room, he was hiding by the wardrobe" she said her hands shaking again.

"Thank you" I stood to go, dropping the barrier. "Whisperer, can you keep an eye on this girl, she won't say a word to me about who spoke with her" I gave her a wink "I'm going to speak with her boss and see if he knows anything" Whisperer not being stupid shut the book, but frowned at me.

"I can deliver her into the custody of one of the other brothers" he said "Remember what the Master said, it's _my_ investigation" _thanks for the reminder_ , I thought.

"Fine, we need to send her to someone we can trust, I suggest Brother Ethan" I said, the girl smiled at me.

"It might be wise if you take a leave of absence for a while" Whisperer told me "Someone here is after you and I don't want them to succeed"

"Clearly" I said "but I don't understand why do _I_ have to leave? Surely they'll show themselves here in time"

"Someone tried to poison you Ghost" he said, those bright blue eyes burning "they would have succeeded if you hadn't given out your food rations" he shunted his glasses further up his nose and ran a hand through his hair "I'll handle things here, I would make your peace with Kalin and the other brothers and take a leave whilst I do some digging, I have some ideas, but they're unfounded at the moment, go to your room and pack, I'll be along shortly" he called Brother Ethan who escorted me numbly to my dorm room.


	5. Chapter 5

"Whisperer will sort this out, you'll see" Ethan said as he waited in the doorway, his sex making it impossible to cross the boundary into my room as was Kabal rule, the magic in the door ways put there by Wodan himself. "But he's right, if you leave then whoever is after you will try to follow, they don't know where you'll go, only that you'll have left, so he'll be a step behind, but also away from doing any more harm here, it's a wise move" Eleanor clung to him, though her tears were gone she was still shaking, the young brother's arm holding her tightly, secure. He leaned lazily against the barrier, using it as a wall . . . the barrier . . .

"Eleanor" I asked "Where do you sleep?" Eleanor looked up at me confused

"I have a room here in the Kabal, in the servants quarters" she answered

"Ethan, do the servant's quarters have the same protective barrier as ours?" I asked, Ethan shrugged

"I don't know" he said pondering "why?"

"You've never been in Eleanor's room?" I asked. Ethan's face burned scarlet and he couldn't quite meet my eyes. "It's important Ethan" I told him. He looked down at Eleanor then back up at me looking a little more composed.

"No" he said "We've always met in other places, never in our rooms" he said, beside him Eleanor nodded furiously to confirm.

"I need to talk with Whisperer before I go" I said tying up my bag and throwing it over my shoulder "Take Eleanor to your room and rest, she's had a trying day"

"My sister?" Eleanor asked "Will she be alright?"

"I'll make sure of it" I said. I made my way back through the maze of corridors to Whisperer's room

"I thought you were leaving?" Whisperer said as I strode into his room, I hadn't bothered to knock and despite only leaving him a short time ago I was ill prepared to see him stood in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a towel and a frown; his hair wet from the shower falling in his eyes, he held a book in one hand, a crystal in the other. The heat spread over my face immediately and I turned my back to him in embarrassment, suddenly feeling very stupid "You know you could knock" he said, I could feel his eyes on my back.

"I need you to test a theory with me" I said quickly

"Oh?" he said, I heard the book and crystal being deposited on the table, resisting the urge to turn around

"Eleanor lives in the Kabal so her room may be protected and . . ."

"And you figure if someone had gotten to her in her room then they must have dispelled the barrier in order to slip in" Whisperer finished "I know, I already came from there"

"Oh?" I asked, my turn to be surprised and turning round out of habit, Whisperer had made no move to change; instead he simply stood there, arms crossed expectantly, I shuffled uneasily and stared at my feet, hiding behind my hair.

"Ghost, you're suppose to leave this to me" he said pointedly "I already went to Eleanor's room, there's no barrier there" he looked mad at me, like I was a child that was over stepping a boundary "The servants aren't protected in the way the mage are, they're not important enough" _not important enough?_ I thought, now it was my turn to get mad

"Not important?" I snapped, "They're just as important as anyone else here" I glared at him as he simply shrugged his broad shoulders.

"If you say so" he replied. I was lost for words, he was usually so charming and patient, I'd never seen him like this, so _cold_. "Are you staying or going?" he asked, his eyes slid towards the bed and I shuddered, taking a step back. The hairs on my neck started to stand on end and my flustered blush from earlier started to turn cold, I clenched my fists, fingernails digging into my hand

"I'm going" I turned to go

"Where are you going to go?" he asked "Someone should know in case we need to get in touch with you" I growled to myself, I didn't know if I wanted him to know where I was if he was going to be a dick about it, but he was right, without a comm. unit they would have no other way to get in touch.

"Hastings" I told him as I stormed out.

I didn't stop walking until I reached the Kabal gate. I paused at the threshold and let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding. I opened my palm to push the gate open, blood smeared my palm. I found a local coffee shop and ordered to go; fumbling for change in my robes I used the café comm. unit to call KC.

"S'up girl?" KC's face appeared on the screen

"Hey, just to let you know I'm heading out to Hastings, are you done with your recon yet?" I asked

"I'm on my way home" she laughed "or didn't you get my messages?" clearly not. I briefly explained about the attack on Kalin and she listened intently "If they were after you they might have been intercepting comm. lines too" she suggested, this would make sense that I hadn't gotten messages, in fact, thinking about it I hadn't had any messages for a while "maybe Hastings is a bad idea, you're a way out from support out there, come home to Detroit, I'll pick you up from the station, I should be back by then" she gave me a grin that reminded me of Lathain "I'll buy you a drink"

That sounded infinitely more appealing than my hole up in Hastings, I told her I'd meet her soon then hung up, grabbed my coffee and went to buy a train ticket.


	6. Chapter 6

Later that day the hideout in Hastings was destroyed in a fire, KC pulled me out of bed at three a.m. to watch the footage on our comm. unit. Officials later described the event as a freak accident with the electrics, two people in the same apartment block died. I tried to call Torrin about it but the line kept ringing. The next morning I called by the house, expecting the Orc to be there baking away.

KC came with me, sensing something felt wrong as she too had not been able to get in touch, nor had she been able to speak with Amm about where Torrin was. There had been radio silence. "He wouldn't have gone on a job without letting me know" she said "besides, he's got Kaden and the pest with him" she mused aloud "but then I'm back from my job nearly a week early, so maybe he's away and not back yet?" she added

"Still doesn't explain why he wouldn't let us know" I said "He'd have dropped Kaden and Mei-Juu at the temple, he's done it before" though I doubt Master Wodan would have approved, the last time the fur ball had been at the Kabal he'd gotten out of my room and into the Master's quarters where he'd destroyed a quilt and left a dead rat on the pillow. . .

The first clue that something was really wrong was when the key to the door did not work. The lock had been changed.

I looked about the house front looking for signs of a trap, but there was nothing obvious, the window that led to the spare room on the first floor was slightly ajar, KC gave me a boost and I managed to jump up and wiggle through the gap, cursing myself that my time in the Kabal had put on a few extra pounds. I fell somewhat on the other side in an undignified heap, standing quickly and brushing myself off. I froze.

The room was empty.

Not just devoid of people, but clear, there was no bed, no dresser, no mirrors or pictures. Feeling suddenly panicky I raced to Torrin's room, that too was empty, the bathroom was devoid of everything bar the powder blue shower curtain. I jumped down the stairs, nearly falling, my face heated and tears welling up in my eyes. The living room was empty, the dining table gone, the painting of Nutu.

The oven clean, no sign of the great pink apron I had bought him, no sign of the fruit bowl or the scruffy fur ball of Mei-Juu and Kaden's basket was also gone. I became aware of a knocking, soft but insistent, and then remembered KC.

"He's gone" I said opening the door from the inside and letting her in.

"Where would he go?" she asked, sounding out the confusion that held us both "He wouldn't just go without telling you would he?" I shook my head whilst looking around at the empty place again. "Does this have something to do with Hastings?" she asked, nodding towards the burnt wall where the microwave had been.

"I don't know" I said "I should have called when I got out of the Kabal" I said

"I doubt that would help" KC said "It looks like the place has been empty for a while" she said. The breeze from the open door disturbed the fine layer of dust on the kitchen counter "when was the last time you spoke with Tor?"

"About six weeks ago" I mumbled, there had been a time when I would have called every other day, but with the Kabal and training things had slipped "What about you?"

"About then too" KC said "Which means he may have been gone for as long as that. Let's go ask Doc, she might know" KC suggested.

I nodded and we left, KC taking the wheel as I sat in the passenger seat biting the tips of my nails, something I hadn't done for a long time, my stomach felt heavy and knotted.

We pulled into the car park of Doc's clinic to find no other cars around; I gave KC a confused look, this place was always busy, you had to fight for every available space, there was a small van parked on the curb out front, but other than that it seemed deserted. We then headed to the reception room. The only person there was an electrician, busy taking out the hard-lines for the old monitors, all the patients, all the hospital beds, the staff, they were gone too.

"What the . . . ?" KC said as we entered

"Can I help you ladies?" The electrician asked winding cables around his hands

"Where is everyone?" I asked "the staff?" The electrician shrugged. KC growled and tapped on comm. unit.

"Who are you calling?" I asked as the line picked up

"Whisperer" KC answered her phone "Where are you?" she listened for a few seconds "When did you last speak with Torrin?" she paused "He's gone" she said flatly, she paused again, my feet twitching, pissed that I couldn't listen in, she started to explain to Whisperer over the comm. unit the last few days, suddenly I heard a soft beeping, ignoring it at first then as you do when a beeping continues I followed the sound trying to locate it. The electrician was doing the same.

"Is that you?" he asked, I shrugged and followed my ears. It led me to the operating room, the beeping louder all the while, the electrician ready to step through the doors I held him back and raised myself on tip toes to see through the small round window set into the door.

"Run" I whispered as my eyes fell on a small table in the middle of the room. I dropped to my feet and sprinted for the door, dragging the confused electrician with me. I called KC as I went; the brunette wasted no time in high tailing it out of there. I yanked hard on the emergency alarm as I went; the people in the apartments above needed to get out. We got to the car and floored it out of the lot just as the bomb blew, taking out the basement flooring with it. The street was full of confused residents, but as much as I wanted to help them we had to get out of there. I looked for the electrician, maybe he could tell me how long he'd been in the building, but amongst the debris and masses my eyes couldn't pick him out. I sincerely hoped he had gotten out.

 _Where were they?_


	7. Chapter 7

The next few months followed slowly, I took a few recon jobs to pass the time, though Whisperer kept me informed of Kalin's progress he didn't know any more than we did about Torrin's disappearance. He left me messages about the investigation from the Kabal, and he had a few of the affiliates look into where Torrin might have gone, but he wasn't to be found. Whisperer voiced the opinion that Torrin had obviously disappeared willingly, the empty house, the clinic, were not exactly the style of someone who had been taken against their will. I had to concede that Torrin would eventually tell me where he was; in the meantime KC had suggested sticking around in places Torrin would know we would go in case he decided to get in touch.

In addition to Torrin's disappearance it seemed whoever had been sent to the Kabal might be trying to find Torrin, and not me. Several of Torrin's old haunts had been destroyed or raided, and some of his contacts had been beaten or killed, others were going into hiding. I had just got back to the hotel after picking my way through the burnt remains of a bar Torrin used to visit with Hanson when I got a call from Lathain

"You know you could get your own comm." Lathain's grainy picture complained at me for the millionth time, his elven ears twitched in aggravation. I merely shrugged, I hated comm. units, a fact he knew all too well.

"Whatever, unless you're calling to tell me you found Torrin then I'm not interested" I said a little more harshly than he deserved, I sighed "sorry" I apologised "it's been a long day, why are you calling?" I asked, I didn't add the two in the morning snarl, no point, I had been awake anyway, and sleep was evading me a lot these days. The hotel was cold and the thin walls did little to keep out the sounds from KC and her latest pick up

"Got a job offer you might like to be in on" the elf grinned, flashing perfect white teeth "In fact I think this one is _exactly_ what you're looking for" his pointed look had me intrigued, I paused and he grinned again. "Ah! Got you interested haven't I? Grab the babe and meet me and the client tomorrow at the Plaza in Vegas, noon"

"It's gonna take me all night and a day to drive to Vegas" I said with slight annoyance, I would be lucky to get any sleep at all, and from the sounds coming from KC's room I doubted she'd appreciate any interruptions.

"Better get a move on then" he said and severed the connection; the screen went black leaving me in the dark communal room. I sighed and stood, Lathain had me, knew I needed another job, not for the money, I had more than enough, but I needed the adventure, the distraction, the kick.

The door to KC's room opened with a creak. KC looked up from beneath the sheet, her dark hair mussed; she shot me a look I did not expect, a grateful one.

"Oh _please_ tell me the elf needs a hand" she said, her current partner for this evening looked up from the covers, clearly embarrassed. I nodded and she smiled "thank god, I thought I'd have to fake it all night!" she flung the covers from her, uncaring of her nakedness and swung a pair of jeans on, pulling a T out of a bag she pulled it on and slung a pair of steely boot over her bare feet. "You" she said swinging a pair of boots onto the bed "get up and go home"

Poor guy.

Forty minutes later we were packed and in the jeep, the road at this time was quiet and were it not for the drone of the engine and the occasional bump it was silent

"So, other than a location did the elf say what this was about?" K.C asked when we were out of the town. I shook my head

"He just said it would interest me specifically and to meet at the Plaza in Vegas" I told her, pulling the car onto the old interstate, K.C picked at her nails with the tip of a wicked looking knife.

"Is Whisperer going to be there?" she asked, I raised my eyebrow at the question then shrugged, "I hope so, maybe you two will actually hook up" I nearly choked from spluttering in shock

"What?! What is that suppose to mean?!" I asked

KC grinned "Oh yeah, you have it bad too, so tell me, all that time in the Kabal with him there over the summer, did you guys never hook up?"

"No!" I shouted, almost swerving the car, I felt my face heat, KC caught it in a second

"Ah HA!" she said "You _have_ hooked up, I knew it"

"No, we didn't" I told her, more calmly "But we have kissed before" I admitted, KC raised a brow expectantly "On the base" I said

"The base? You mean the Tech facility? You didn't even know him then!" she looked at me shocked "Were there any other times you "didn't" hook up?" she interrogated, my eyes slid away as I remembered the Sam Arkut case. KC laughed "You're a secret slut aren't you?"

"No!" I squeaked, beetroot in the face it took a moment to realise she was only teasing me

"Chill Ghost, I'm just pulling your leg, I won't say anything more on the subject" she promised me with a giggle, I gave her a side look

"So who was it you booted out this morning?" I asked, trying to change the conversation before she delved much further. KC's face twisted in thought

"Josh, John, Joseph . . . something like that" I laughed

"And you call me the slut?" I said disbelieving, K.C grinned

"I've been locked underground for over five years, I've catching up to do" she told me, "besides the one I really want wont even look at me so I have to find some other muse"

"Do you mean Lathain?" I asked curious, KC snorted

"No way, too flashy for me, I like 'em good and solid, strong, you know so they wont break when I fling 'em around" now I was thoroughly confused, I didn't know anyone who fitted that description and told her so, she laughed "you really don't see him like that do you?"

"Who like what?"

"Torrin" she said, "you seriously don't find him attractive?" _oh dear_ , another failure in the conversation, I felt myself get heated at the neck

"Not really no" I said "You see Torrin is . . . well Torrin is . . . he's important to me, but no I wouldn't sleep with him" I said "He knows too many of my demons and I his, we're more siblings and I respect him far too much to break what we have even if there were feelings like that, besides even if there was something there he'd never sleep with me"

K.C caught the edge of something "why?"

"Because I'm human" I told her "he fell for a human girl when he was younger, she nearly died when they went to bed because he is so strong, and he's never taken a human girlfriend since"

"But he has taken a girlfriend hasn't he?" KC asked

"Not when he first took me in, he didn't want to risk exposing me to danger, but he had a few girls recently, none have worked out; though I'm not sure why" I said "can we change the subject?" I asked, all this talk of Torrin was making me uncomfortable, I still had no idea where he was and anytime we went looking something would end up on fire or blown up.

"Sure, but why?"

"Torrin is family and it's a little weird talking about his sex life" I admitted, that and with everything that was going on and Torrin still missing it was a subject I'd rather not get into.

"O.K then we'll talk about Wizbit, have you ever seen him naked? I mean he's invisible so often that you really wouldn't be able to tell" she laughed and I sighed, this was going to be a _long_ drive.


	8. Chapter 8

The Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas was one of the few remaining buildings from before the crash on the desert stretch; it looked lost amongst the new high rises surrounding it but it had a beauty that the others lacked, an old grace. Water fountains out front danced about in the hot air and simply added to its old grandeur.

Lathain met us in the foyer, regarding my singular pack with a look of surprise "You're in Vegas and you bring a night pack?" he enquired "live a little, where are the mountainous suitcases?"

"Mine are in the trunk" KC said handing Lathain the keys "Now which way to my room?"

"We got a suite to share, separate rooms, one common area, best of all, the client is paying, whether we decide to take the job or not, we get tonight and tomorrow night for free, just for turning up" he grinned again, he looked past me to someone stood in the doorway "Penumbra! You made it man, come in and let me introduce you"

How do you describe a huge bird like troll? . . . well I suppose you could start with _he's a bird like troll_ I thought to myself. Penumbra was huge, I've known some large trolls in my time, but this guy put them all in his shadow. His face was pushed into a large beak, the face reminded me something like a griffon, a pair of beautiful golden horns spiralled from his head, rainbow vibrant feather littered his head and back, his eyes were large and golden. I wasn't sure if he was terrifying, or beautiful. A huge bow and quiver was strapped to his broad back, his huge hands were tipped with long talons and I didn't doubt for a moment that one swing from his muscled arms wouldn't knock a head clean off its shoulders.

"This is Ghost" Lathain said introducing me "She's our resident electric eel" Penumbra held out a huge hand in greeting which I took and shook, the power in those claws made my own hands feel like matchsticks

"You don't look like an eel to me" he said, his voice deep enough to make my chest vibrate, his eyes swept over my lightning tattoos raising a feathered eyebrow

"I'm a lot more in control than I used to be, but I can still deliver a shock if needed" I replied let a slight wave of electricity play over the hand he held, the resulting current raised his feathers slightly, he looked amused, then turned his attention to KC who looked at him in a way I could only describe as hunger. The woman was a sex pest; no doubt she felt she could at least _try_ to break this one.

"So Ghost, what do you think of this place?" Lathain asked me, a grin over his face "pretty sweet ain't it" He seemed very pleased with himself for getting us a suite and a job, but I didn't know what job we could be doing that would possible require such a huge bird troll . . . _its Lathain_ , my mind said to me, _everything he touches explodes_ . . . hmmm. "Whisperer is on his way too" Lathain said, his eyes sliding my way jokingly. I took a deep breath and fought the tell tale blush that threatened to creep up.

"Any word?" I asked. His grin fell and he shook his head

"No, but I heard a rumour that Doc might be in Japan" he said

"Japan?" Doc hated Japan, she had spent time there as a child, Japan was where she had been attacked and her elven ears cut "she swore she would never go back" Lathain nodded

"Indeed, they're just rumours, but I was going to go and check it out anyway" he said. He played with the keys in his hand "let's get you unpacked" he said "Our contact will be here in ten minutes"

The contact Lathain had spoken of was stunning, a beautiful she-elf with long platinum hair and pale skin, I had first thought she was a true blood, but her all too human brown eyes gave away the impurities in her bloodline. She sat in a private booth, gesturing for us to take a seat.

"Thank you all for coming" she said as she surveyed the collection of runners sat before her "My name is Elherin Farthro, I am of the high houses, however given the circumstances of this meeting it would be best to call me by runner name, I am Scathe"

A runner? A high born elf as a runner was not just unusual it wasn't heard of, my eyes slid to Lathain, his true blood line was still a mystery, but I knew he was higher than he claimed, at least openly. Scathe slid a palm pad into the centre of the table; the pad illuminated and projected a small hologramatic field before us. It showed a data chip, small, about the size of a nuyen. The image shifted showing a small device that reminded me of the old CD player Torrin had in the kitchen, it looked almost antiquated, but the specs that filled in front of it showed it was anything but.

"I've brought you here as transporters" Scathe said, she looked about the table, her eyes rested on Penumbra "Your services came highly recommended" she said with a smile, the troll shifted uncomfortably in his seat and simply shrugged

"Where do you need it taking to?" Whisperer asked as he approached the table, I hadn't seen him appear, though Lathain had mentioned him coming on the mission. He nodded his head to the she-elf and took up a seat beside Penumbra "Forgive my tardiness" he said. Scathe nodded her head in return

"You're to take the device and the chip to the following coordinates" She typed on the palm pad and the scene shifted to a beautiful grey and red brick building, it looked old, but well kept "It is for the Neo Tokyo college" she continued "it is part of a high priority research and development project, funded by . . ."

"Engen" I interrupted, all eyes turned to me "They're funded by Engen"

"Indeed" Scathe said. Now I understood why Lathain thought this would be right up my street, my step father's company was funding the research being carried out by the college. And if his source on Doc was true to their word then we might find her in the area.

"If Engen are funding it then why isn't it being done in some secret lab somewhere?" KC asked

"Most Mega Corps fund several colleges" Scathe explained "The majority of secret work is actually carried out in public places, colleges in the name of academics are able to get permission to test and trial things that would take corporations years of paperwork to even get started, provided an argument can be made that it fits into the college curriculum. The practice is actually quite normal"

KC raised her brow at that "So the kids build them?"

"Yes" Scathe said, "though they would hardly class as children, most of the college attendee's aren't much younger than yourself" KC snorted and sat back with her arms folded "Colleges also get funding by the government, not only can you have the best and brightest mind working on your projects but you can complete them with half the paperwork and half the cost"

"So what do the colleges get out of this?" Penumbra asked

"They get funding from both the government and the mega corps, as well as credit in final reviews and release. For everyone involved it's a pretty sweet deal" Scathe explained

"So you need us to transport this drive to the college, that's fine" Whisperer started "but I don't get why you want so many of us, it should just be a simple transport mission, right?"

"You have a good point" Scathe said straightening up and folding her arms gracefully in front of her. "we could by rights simply transport it on a private jet, however we have reason to believe this route is being monitored" she levelled her eyes at Whisperer "There is another, more pressing reason why I have asked for the device to transported outside of the organisation" she tapped on the palm pad and numbers scrolled on the screen, I had no idea what they meant but Lathain let out a soft whistle "What if I told you that the drive contained technology on how to scan public nodes for fake SIM software? That this design may make the use of fake SIM impossible" Lathain flicked his eyes my way as we pondered the effect that could have.

All runners used fake SIM.

If there was a wireless device which could isolate and identify fake SIM then no one in the runner community would be safe again, there would _be_ no shadows to hide in.

"Needless to say if this tech went live then my employers might start asking me some rather uncomfortable questions" Scathe continued "And that, Mr Blades, is why I have asked the rest of you here " Whisperer quirked an eyebrow, I wondered if Blades was his real name, or an alias, I suddenly realised that despite our growing closeness I didn't know his name, nor did he know mine.

"So you don't want the device to reach the college?" I asked slightly confused

"Oh I do Miss Xanders" she replied "I merely want you make some adjustments to it on route" she had clearly done homework on her crew to know my alias despite Lathain only giving her my runner's name.

"Sabotage?" Lathain asked, beside him KC grinned broadly

"Exactly" she said "It needs to look as though the program would never work, to my employers it would look as though it had been transported safely, by the best team possible, but it would all be for nought as the tech doesn't produce the results promised" Penumbra scratched his chin and nodded

"I'll make sure it gets to where it's going" he said "You have a problem with the transporter though" he said "I only use bio and environmental casing, once the device is locked in then you won't be able to remove it, alarms would go off and they would know it had been tampered with" he grinned "No-one has broken one of my cases yet" he said with pride

"Leave that side of things to me" Lathain said "I've already got an idea for that, but it'll need to be done over the course of two days minimum, and ideally over water"

"Over water?" I asked, Penumbra raised a feathered brow

"Water" Lathain confirmed, he gave me a boyish grin "and your light fingers may come in handy" he told me. He looked immensely pleased with himself, like a cat that had brought home a pigeon; he turned in his seat to look at Penumbra, a huge grin spreading "Do you have a boat?"


	9. Chapter 9

KC and I pondered the mission in our room later that afternoon, the guys had decided to hit the slots and bar, I unpacked my few clothes whilst KC watched me lazily from the bedside.

"Do you think Lathain knew about the mega corp being involved?" she asked, I shrugged my shoulders and threw my nightwear under my pillow for later. "Girl you're not wearing those are you?" she asked pulling at my leggings "They're thicker than a goat's arse"

"They're comfy" I told her, she scoffed

"We're in the _desert_ " she reminded me "you think the air con in these rooms will keep you cool?" she swung her legs off the bed and padded to her room, I heard the soft beep of the room key as she typed in her code, she returned a minute later with a thin scarf . . .

At least it _looked_ like a scarf

She threw it to me and I unfurled it, a dark green silk negligee, impossibly short. I gave her a look that told her definitively that I would _not_ be wearing it

"Try it on" she suggested

"Oh no" I said "This wouldn't cover a cat" I handed it back, "besides don't you need it?" KC laughed flicking her hair from her shoulder

"Girl I got a dozen just like it, this one however is special, you can wear it with a pair of heels on a night out and it still looks good" her blue eyes gleamed mischievously "Go on, try it on, make sure it fits" I eyed her warily and slunk behind the changing screen in my room, I figured she'd only tease me until I caved.

I slid the material over me, it fitted surprisingly well. "It's a little short" I grumbled

"You're wearing it to bed" she pointed out "so unless you intend to take the barman to bed _with_ you none will know" she had a point, I changed back into my gear, stepping out KC tutted

"Now what?" I asked, trying to keep the exasperation form my voice.

"It's dinner time, you can't go looking like that" she said, I sighed

"I suppose I have to wear this to dinner?" I asked holding up the thin fabric

KC laughed and gathered her boots in her hands before walking to the door "Not quite what I had in mind babe, but hey if you like the idea I won't stop you" I growled low in my throat "Follow me, I'm sure there's something in my case for you"

Dinner was held in the main gala, I nervously followed KC down the stairs, checking my footing as I went, with no real shoes other than my boots I had borrowed a pair of KC's heels, the heel slight but higher than any I had worn before and I wasn't used to it yet, I also had the issue that KC had bigger feet than mine, the straps slipped occasionally adding to my discomfort

"Aren't you supposed to be super graceful as an infiltrator?" KC whispered to me as we were being led to the table by a waiter she was eyeing up

"I've never worn heels like this before" I told her, she shot me a look that told me she didn't believe me for a second. Lathain and Penumbra were at the table already with Whisperer, Lathain dressed in an easy blue shirt and dark trousers, Whisperer in black tie suit looking particularly smart. Even Penumbra wore a shirt, the tell tale creases of a store bought, never ironed shirt told me the guys had probably coerced him into it.

"Ladies" Lathain said standing "You look gorgeous" KC smiled and took the chair that Lathain offered, even Whisperer watched as she swept to the chair, all grace in her black satin and suede dress. The plunge of her neckline inviting enough but coupled with the long side slit to near her hip she was utterly stunning and really commanded the room. A glance around told me the boys on our table weren't the only ones who were admiring the brash brunette, decked out in her finery.

I had opted for plain black trousers, the slight flare at the base made my heels look longer, I wore a navy blue blouse made of silk, the top designed for KC's bustier frame the opening hung on me a little lower than I was completely comfortable with, but it was this or a dress. KC had spent ten minutes pulling the long waves of my hair back into a French twist, wispy tendrils of rebel hair framed my face, which she deemed to be 'adorable'. I forwent the make-up despite KC's insistence.

Penumbra broke out of the trance that KC had woven first and stood to pull out a chair for me; I thanked him and sat down, somewhat clumsily. The thought occurred to me that I had never socialised with the team before. Other than occasional nights in with KC I hadn't spent any time with the guys, no dinner dates or coffee mornings. The closest I had come to dressing up was in Chicago and then it had been a simple affair of make do with what was on the shelf, this felt far more extravagant.

I felt my face heat as I noticed Whisperer watching me. He poured me a glass of water, and then did the same for KC, for a moment I was reminded of the Kabal and his dinner time routine, unfortunately it also reminded me of his snide comment _they're not important enough . . ._ I shifted uncomfortably as he watched me, he must have sensed he was the cause of my fidgeting as he looked away to hail one of the servers. A waiter came over and took our order, his well trained manners complimenting the girls on their looks, taking the extra second to take further detail of KC, indeed every waiter in the gala seemed to stop by to ensure our meal went without a hitch.

"So ladies" Lathain said, leaning forward and locking his fingers, elbows on the table. A slight frown escaped Whisperer before being covered up; I held back a soft laugh at Lathain's disregard for etiquette. "What do we think about the mission?"

KC shrugged and took a sip of wine, she had fallen into the mission by virtue of being with me, rather than choosing to go "It doesn't matter to me, but hey I'm always up for a bit of a ruckus" she said playing with the many forks on her setting. "But I'm in if you guys are"

"I'm in" I said "Doc was last seen in the area, so if nothing else it'll give me a starting place on where to find her, as for the device, I agree, even if it wasn't something my step father was involved in then we should help to destroy it"

"Remember what Kalin said" Whisperer warned me

"I'm aware of that" I told him "But it's not as if I'm going after him directly" I placed a light hand over KC's, her fidgeting was distracting me

"Kalin?" Lathain asked, I had forgotten that Lathain hadn't been brought up to speed with all the events of the Kabal; we spent some time filling in the gaps whilst food was served. I didn't mention the discussion regarding the quarters, though my face grew red, both with embarrassment at Whisperer's attire at the time and his disrespect at the servant staff. Though as I watched him through the meal he treated each of our current waiting staff as if they were old friends, like he was a different person, perhaps had he taken my comments to heart?

"So we are agreed?" Penumbra said as the last of the dishes was cleared "If so then I will arrange for the transporter unit to be calibrated tomorrow." A soft music filled the air, and many of the people at surrounding tables got up to dance in the small dance floor at the centre of the hall. KC watched them dance with a slight smile and obvious longing. Lathain stood and held out a hand to her. She quirked an eye brow

"I dare you" he said, she laughed and took his hand, challenge accepted. I took that as my cue to leave before the rest of the guys could make a similar offer.

"Gentlemen" I said rising from my seat "I bid you a goodnight", Whisperer rose, perhaps a little too quickly, knocking the table with his legs and nearly overturning the water jar.

"You're not staying?" he asked, gesturing to the dance floor

"I'm afraid I'm not one for dancing" I said "And it's been a long drive" a silly excuse, but entirely incorrect, it had been a long drive and I was tired

"I could walk you to your room" he offered, I shook my head politely to tell him that wasn't necessary, gave a slight nod to Penumbra then went back to the room.

The room was huge and I felt tiny in the confines of the huge bed. I changed into my pyjamas, by the time I had finished brushing the twist from my hair KC's warning was already holding true, the heat was simply too much for the fluffy attire, I glanced at the shift KC had left me, It wouldn't hurt for one night . . .

I slipped it on, already feeling better for it and lay atop the covers, a thin sheet over me for comfort and tried to get some sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

The night air was stifling, the heat oppressive; the covers thrown from me and still I felt I could not breathe. Thankful that the gown K.C had given me was slim silk, the material at least breathed better than my cotton leggings. I felt tiny in the huge bed of the hotel room, the sheets satin, smooth to the touch, but blocked what little air there was. Above me wooden fans whirred soundless, recycling the stiff air. The clock read 3:21

I sighed deeply. I wasn't going to sleep, so why try? I slid from the bed, the movements awkward as the soft mattress gave beneath me. There was once a time I had slept in beds much like this one, but now they felt uncomfortable, as if it were trying to swallow me whole. The fake fur rug beneath my bare feet felt cool, a blessing. I moved to the window, pulling aside one heavy curtain to look onto the enclosed centre of the casino plaza, not the best view, given how stifling the room was I needed to see sky.

Cautious to not make a sound I opened the door to the suite area, it was dark in the furthest corners, but the huge floor to ceiling windows let the bright lights of Vegas into the room, neon colour cast about the room giving it a rainbow glow. Soft music was playing through a speaker by the doorway, a vague memory of a band from before the crash, the music soft, melodic, almost inviting me to step into the room. The window beckoned me, powerless against the pull I padded silently to the glass. It was cool in here, and for the first time since setting foot here I could breathe again. I caught my reflection in the glass.

In the dim light my eyes seemed darker than normal, pupils wide, and an overly large feature on my face. My red hair was tousled, longer than I was used to, I had meant to have it cut for some time but with everything that had happened and trying to find Torrin it had slipped my mind, the soft waves falling to my waist, not much shorter than the hem of my night gown, the dark green silk did not leave much to the imagination with its plunging neck line and short hem. I had never worn anything so daring. When I had lived in the family home items such as this drew only trouble, and living with Torrin clothing was simply about practicality, and this item was anything but practical. Still it was cool to wear and for once I saw something in my reflection that didn't make me flinch away, even the lightning scars across my left side looked ethereal, playing and dancing in the neon glow. I sighed and shook my head, too little too late for me.

At the sound of my sigh there was the brush of fabric moving over leather, I jumped and turned towards the source. The shifting lights lit up a turning form of Whisperer on one of the large white leather sofas. I had forgotten he had taken up residence there, the suite had but four rooms for the five of us, he had taken the sofa, leaving the rooms to Lathain, Penumbra, K.C and myself, why hadn't I noticed him before? Silently I moved over to the opposite sofa to study him.

He didn't seem the type to sleep with others around, too cautious, particularly given the power he commanded, I had expected him to be more jumpy. Or perhaps he was just comfortable with the group of us enough to sleep? Long strands of hair had fallen into his face, a pistol tucked into the crook of his arm, fingers around the trigger. He was ready for the fight should it come to it, yet still he looked . . . peaceful. Wearing just trousers and a plain shirt open at the collar from the heat, his glasses folded neatly on the coffee table beside him. Had it not been for the gun he would look like any million of men sleeping soundly, shoes tucked beneath the sofa out of the way. He shifted again, rolling his shoulders to find some comfort, the barest hint of a snore, I smiled and resisted the urge to laugh. In the window new lights played out, I glanced across to see the water fountains outside were coming to life, the rise and fall of the water spires caught and bent the light. I moved silently to the window again to watch the water play. Suddenly feeling the urge to be outside in the spray, it called me, those swirling spires. _Dance with us._ They seemed to say _free yourself_. I could not contain the urge much longer; I pulled away from the window and out the door.

The air was cooler here, a light breeze taking away the suffocating heat of the desert. I was surprised by how empty the courtyard felt. As I had wandered through the casino floor the place inside had been crowded, mindless people linked to machines, jacked into virtual games, lost in the throw that one more nuyen would give them, maybe this time would be the big hit. Once outside there was no-one, the place empty, only the lights and towers of water for company.

The tarmac was warm beneath my feet, hours of desert sun soaked heat now escaping into the night. I breathed in the scent of sand and water. Feeling now as light as a feather, like a weight had been lifted. For once I cared not that I was hunted, cared not that there were people out to find me that it wasn't safe, I drew closer to the water. A great metal disc in the centre of a planted surround, I stepped up through the shrubbery, the scent of greenery drew me in. Beneath my feet tarmac gave way to fine chipped bark mulch, and the air surrounding me was a fine mist, thrown up from the spray. I sat on a boulder at the waters edge, the disc held a two foot deep pool of water which rose into a dome gradually in the centre where the sprays erupted into the sky. I heard a sound of swishing branches behind me, the scent of cinnamon drew nearer, I smiled to myself then turned my head to see Whisperer approaching, he was barefoot too, but had forgone the pistol, reminding me once again of his mage abilities, he was far from defenceless.

"Sorry" he said softly as if trying not to break the tranquillity of the scenery "I heard you leave and wanted to make sure you were alright, it's not safe out here on your own" I pulled my knees up to hug them to myself and looked out over the water

"I'm safe enough" I told him "I just needed some space" I glanced back at him "I'll be inside shortly" he gave me a questioning look for a second as if making sure. Behind me the sound of the falling water stopped, I turned to look out over the disc, the ripples dying over the water until all was still once more, I couldn't help but feel saddened by the loss of the spirals, without them the heat crept back into the world and the night began to loose its magic. I looked back at Whisperer a moment; he had an odd look on his face, one I find difficult to describe, as if he saw something new. I unfolded my legs and stood to go.

"Just a moment" Whisperer said rummaging in his pockets, he suddenly had a gleam in his eye, one I had only ever seen when he was about to cause trouble "Wait right there for one second" he pulled a single coin from his trouser pocket and disappeared from the shrubbery. I was unsure what to do, follow or to wait as he had instructed, I sat back down again, chin on my knees hugged tight to my chest. A minute later there was a whirring sound and the water began its dance again, spraying high into the air, I heard the shrubbery move again and caught Whisperer coming back through, he gave me a weak smile "It's an attraction piece, if you feed it then it plays nice for you" he said, the words slightly mumbled, his cheeks flashed pink a moment "You uh . . . you seemed to enjoy watching them so I . . ." he trailed off embarrassed. So he'd paid for another play of the water spires, my heart turned over, it was a beautiful gesture, not at all like the man I had seen in the Kabal on my last day, cold and empty. I smiled at him in thanks and turned to watch the show. After a moment I glanced out the corner of my eye to find him staring at me, leaning casually against my boulder, I turned fully to face him

"You're not watching?" I asked

"In a way yes" he admitted, he ran his hand through his hair "You look peaceful" he said, giving me a soft smile "it's a look that suits you" I felt the heat of the blush creep up my face, suddenly very mindful of the fact I was barely clothed, the hem of my gown barely hiding anything. His eyes stayed on my face though, making me feel a little more relaxed. I looked out over the water, tempting to put my feet into the cool wet.

"Sit with me?" I asked holding out a hand to help him up, again the slight flash of pink on his cheeks at my request. He took my hand and pulled himself onto the boulder, realising too late my intention as I gave his legs a shove, he went out and over into the water, for a second completely engulfed before he found his feet and standing, hair plastered over his eyes, clothes soaked to the skin, glasses askew on his face. I burst into laughter, once it started I couldn't stop, rolling it out, my sides burned I was laughing so hard, I rolled onto my back, unable to stay sitting. Big mistake.

Two strong hands grabbed my flailing legs and pulled hard, I screamed in surprise as I flew out off the boulder, hitting Whisperer square in the chest, both of us hitting the cold clear water. I stood in shock; the water deeper than I had first thought came up to my waist. Whisperer was laughing, and laughing hard. I pulled my drenched hair from my face and smacked water in his direction; he flinched away from it, still laughing. I smiled, ducking into the water to pull my hair from my face properly. I rose quickly, he was still laughing.

"You deserved that for pushing me in" he said running his hands through his hair to pull it from his eyes, I laughed and stepped towards the dome in the centre, and those high spires.

"Well you looked like you could use a cold bath" I told him, he flicked water at me, and I shot more back, feeling the rise of the dome under my feet I ran fast as the water would allow up onto the dome between the water cannons, the footing slippery, but manageable, there in the centre I spread out my arms wide.

 _I was the water nymph! This was my kingdom!_

I let out a childish laughing scream as a shot of water erupted, hitting me in the face. I laughed and dodged a second shot of water from the pipes, spinning easily on the slick surface, then another, and another, arms out I danced with the water, dodging and weaving between the sprays, feeling the energy; the power of them, the falling water like hard rain on my skin, cool and crisp. In my mind I felt a music rise, unheard by everyone but me, the crash of cymbals as the water fell, deep bass drums, light violins as bright as the water.

Then suddenly in my dance there was another, Whisperer took my hands, following the patterns I had created, spinning me in circles out from the sprays, without thought my mind connected with his, sharing the music I heard, the music I was creating The pattern shifted as he took the lead, strong arms lifting me up, lending me wings to the water, the music built in volume, the intensity, there was _more_ , more _life_ to it, more _freedom_ , the moment was ours.

He spun me into his arms, locking those intense eyes onto mine, I felt heat rise as he bent his lips to mine, head dizzy the touch soft at first, then the passion grew, fuelled by the energy around us. I breathed him in, intoxicating, heart racing in my chest, my arms around his neck he lifted me, swinging my legs up into his arms as if I weighed no more than a feather, and still the kiss continued. I felt water pool around me as he stepped into the deeper water, carrying me to the edge he slowly set me down, kneeling slightly into the water as he did so, I slid my legs into the cool water, his hand brushing my skin softly, to travel up my thigh to rest on my hip, his other arm circled my waist drawing me closer to him. My heart thudding I could not stop the heat rising. It felt like fire and ice, the heat of his touch and the chill of the water. His lips left mine to trail fire down my throat in slow ecstasy, I cradled his head to me, eyes closed in bliss, leaning back into the wall of the pool, feeling much a goddess as his hand trailed back up my thigh slowly, easing back the hem of my gown to move higher. His lips took possession of mine again, he was so close I could feel the hardness of him, but he held a control and patience, determined to take his time.

 _I am the water nymph._

Feeling bold, I trailed a hand down his back, sliding my other hand lower, breath caught in his throat for a moment, his reaction giving me a sense of power and control I had never felt before, I pulled both my hands to the front, numb fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt, slowly opening the material, showing me toned muscles, he radiated heat. I pulled my mouth from his to catch a trail of water running down his neck; I could feel his heart through his chest, the beat strong; the fast pace betraying his fevered thoughts. A low rumbled escaped him as I kissed down his chest, trembling with the excitement I was causing, inexperienced I might be but his reactions, the tensing of his muscles, the deep breaths, his now wildly beating heart gave me all the courage I needed.

He drew me up, those lips taking hold of mine again, stronger; he was tense, as if holding back a caged animal. Yet still he was gentle with me, as if afraid I would repeat my earlier trick and run, delicate and broken, he knew something of my past, but out here in the heat and the cool of the water was so far from that time and place, and I was tired of running!

I arched closer to him, taking a hand in mine I guided him to the thin strap of my shift. He tensed and pulled away to look down at me. Behind him the water spires finished their playful motions and there was silence as he spoke.

"If you take me there Ghost I don't think I'll be able to stop" he warned, voice low there was weight to his words, I realised then how much he was holding back, was I ready? Could I handle the intensity that he was promising? He kissed my forehead tenderly; my moment of uncertainty had made the decision for him. "We should go back inside, get you dry" he whispered, gently lifting me until I was sitting on the edge of the pool, I felt bereft out of his reach, my body still trembling, feeling heavy and tense. He pulled himself up out of the water and clambered to his feet, lending a hand so that I could do the same. The heat of the night was returning, but this time it felt bearable, lighter. Whisperer removed his shirt, draping it around my shoulders, for a moment I wondered why he would bother until I looked down; my shift clung to every part of me, what had barely been presentable before was certainly indecent now, I blushed holding the shirt around me, odd that now I was out of the water I felt modest and vulnerable to his gaze when moments before I was ready to show him much, much more. He bent slowly to brush a soft kiss across my lips, feather light; gently and surprisingly though I offered no resistance as he lifted me into his arms. At first I felt the heated flush creep up my cheek but as he started walking back to the Casino I relaxed into him, head resting lazily against his bare shoulder.

"I can walk you know" I murmured suddenly feeling dozy and tired, my eyes feeling heavy in the heat.

"I know, but I like my way better" he said softly "I get to look all manly and slightly heroic" He glanced down at me, I couldn't help but smile, I buried my head into his shoulder, more comfortable and more peaceful than I had felt for a very long time. "And you said you weren't much of a dancer" he teased

"I had fun tonight" I whispered, eyes dropping, the feeling of floating and drifting was growing "Thank you" I felt the slightest brush of lips on my forehead but was asleep before he could reply.


	11. Chapter 11

When I woke it was still dark outside, the sun just coming up on the horizon, sky a dusty pink. I smelled cinnamon and leather, moving to stretch, my hands brushed soft cotton and warm skin causing me to pause, a long coat draped over me, my bare feet peeking out. I was aware of an arm protectively draped across my front, and slow steady breathing. I smiled to myself, remembering the events of last night. I was curled up against him on one of the large sofas, I felt . . . peaceful, however I also felt the pressing need to use the bathroom.

Talk about romantic.

How anyone managed in the movies to have the beautiful wake up scene was beyond me, everyone who is anyone knows that the first thing anyone needs to do on waking up is go to the loo. I almost laughed at myself, I did really want to stay where I was, but there was also what I needed. As carefully and excruciatingly slowly as I was able I slid my legs from the sofa, gently lifting a surprisingly heavy arm to slide away, his grip tightened fractionally for a second, but the steady rhythm of his breathing continued and he did not wake, that slight snore escaped again and I smiled. With his senses I had expected him to wake the second I moved, perhaps he was a heavier sleeper than I had given him credit for, or like me he had simply been comfortable . . . the thought made me blush a little. I padded to the door of my room and was halfway typing the entry code when I heard a soft cough in the room. I looked up expecting to see Whisperer, instead KC's very keen blue eyes met mine, she glanced across at Whisperer still sound asleep on the sofa, then quirked an eyebrow at me, a huge grin spreading. I blushed crimson, my face heated and I tapped the last key, hoping to slid into my room quickly, but KC was faster than I expected, and silent too, she slid in beside me, somehow managing to contain herself until the door was fully closed.

"Oh my god!" her voice a half whispered scream "I knew it, you _are_ sleeping with him!" her words were accusations, but her tone light, almost giddy "Oh tell me, was he good? I mean he looks like he can go but Jesus . . . "

"Nothing happened" I interrupted her, she was grinning like a cat, oblivious she continued

" . . . wrap him up and throw him my way when . . ."

"KC I said nothing _happened_!" I clasped her flailing arms to her sides, she finally went silent, a look of pure puzzlement on her face

"What?"

"Nothing happened, I haven't slept with Whisperer" I said calmly, she quirked a grin

"But you want to" she stated, I sighed heavily in exasperation

"Hold that thought" I said making my way to the bathroom, shutting the jumpy KC on the other side so I could sort myself out, she tapped mercilessly on the door asking questions, it was certainly an experience. I took my time, combing the tangles from my hair, which smelled faintly of chlorine and heavily of cinnamon. The shift I wore was now dry, though crumpled, I cursed myself for not taking clothes into the bathroom with me to change into, begrudgingly I opened up the door to KC, she lay across my bed on her front, legs in the air kicking, her hair tangled round her face, she wore a slightly longer shift in black, looking stunning as always. I felt more than a little awkward as she took in the crumpled shift.

"Worked well for you then I see" she smiled, chin on her folded hands, those blue eyes of hers waiting not so patiently but containing herself none the less. So this was real girl talk. This was what every ordinary, run of the mill _lucky_ woman got to do with friends, I smiled, maybe this was the job for all new experiences.

"Well enough" I said, KC's mouth dropped in a huge smile, she patted the bed beside her and I moved to curl up on the overly soft mattress. She waited, watching me. I blushed again.

"Alright!" I yelled at her "I'll tell just stop looking at me like that!" she feigned mock surprise at my outburst then settled down again, her hands interlocked, chin resting on the back of them. I took a breath to cool my heated cheeks. "It was . . . nice" KC's face fell, I laughed "Give me a chance here I'm not used to this, it was better than nice, it felt like I was . . . like . . . "

"Freedom?" KC supplied, this slightly far away look in her eye, she smiled at me "So you didn't sleep with him, well you did but you didn't well, you know" she shot me a grin "You kissed him though right?" I nodded, remembering that touch, then burnt redder as I recalled what had followed, it was not lost on KC. Her eyes widened and her grin grew wider still "Oh my God! You nearly did! You were so close, you were weren't you?!" she sat up "Ghost has a backbone at long last!" I threw a cushion at her; she caught it easily with a dismissive wave of her hand laughing loudly, as I vaulted off the bed, my face flushed and hot. I grabbed some clothes whilst she laughed, standing behind an ornate Chinese screen, I pulled on jeans and a bra, a cushion came sailing over the screen to smack me in the head. A second followed, I caught it and threw it back, looking over the top of the screen to see a third set come flying over, KC was bouncing on the bed, pillows in hand. "Come on girl" she called to me, beckoning me with her finger, "This calls for a _real_ girl talk"

I grinned and threw a cushion at her, she batted it away with the pillow in her hand "Gotta do better than that Ghost, I'm a pro" I laughed, I couldn't help it, catching the next pillow she threw and joining her on the bed, feathers were soon everywhere.

KC shrieked loudly as a cushion got her straight in the face; we didn't hear the rap at the door, turning only in time to see Lathain and Whisperer burst in the room, worried looks followed quickly by surprise at the ruined bed. I was intensely glad I held a pillow to my chest, very conscious of the fact my T was behind the screen. KC on the other hand was not perturbed at all about being caught in her shift, she threw a cushion at Lathain, and it hit him square in his shocked face, he shook his head, Whisperer simply caught his intended projectile, adjusted his glasses and backed out, throwing it back into the room. Lathain looked bemused as he backed off, KC blowing a kiss in his direction, laughing loudly. The door clicked closed and KC sat down, breathing heavily.

"You think they mind?" I asked

"Don't know, don't care, I'm just glad I got the elf!" she winked at me and clambered off the bed "Right, time for a spa session I think" she grinned and sauntered out of the room, swinging her hips dramatically "Go chill for a bit" she told me, "One more day in paradise before we hit the fire" Fire . . . that gave me an idea. I jumped off the bed, waved feathers out of my face and tapped the comm. unit beside the bed. A stunning Elven receptionist answered.

"Good Morning" I said cheerfully, "tell me, is there anywhere on site I can shoot?"


	12. Chapter 12

The casino had apparently built in a basement range for their guests, whilst firearms and the like were not allowed on the upper floors the basement range had been fitted should anyone feel the need to unload a few. I grabbed my bow and arrows, the wood smooth against my skin, even after all this time it still smelled like the jungle, a red feather dangled from beneath the fire point, a dragons feather, given to me by Nutu himself. I stood in a booth; in the next stall someone was firing pistols into a target with striking accuracy. I took a deep breath; it seemed like an age since I had taken up the bow, not since Chicago, I needed to practise.

The first volley of shots went wide of the centre, but remained on target; the second though were going for gold. I was in the middle of the third pass when a dark shadow loomed into my light.

"Morning Penumbra" I said not looking behind me, there weren't many people I felt tiny beside, Amm was the only other person to loom like that.

"You knew it was me with magic?" he asked, his voice deep and rumbling

"Nope" I said loosening another arrow to hit dead centre "You just have a presence is all" he remained silent, watching me hit the target over and over until my arrows were spent.

"Your feather" he noted "It is not a usual kind" I shook my head and turned to face him, well to face this guy I'd have difficulty even standing on a table, he was huge, even Amm would feel short beside him

"Dragon" I told him, that quirked a brow, he pulled a huge tree like arm back and removed a bow from his pack, compound bow, carbon fibre it was as tall as I was.

"Shoot" he instructed, I put down my own bow, taking his in my hands, it was light, but that would be the carbon fibre, I plucked the string experimentally, it didn't even move, I gave it a harder pluck, the slight vibration on the string rattled my arm, there was no way I could fire this, however there was something in Penumbra's face that told me he was testing me, better to try and fail than not try at all I suppose. I turned to the range, my target in sight I loaded the arrow the troll presented me, the arrows were heavier than the bow, and fletched with the same beautifully bright feathers that adorned the great Troll's back. I took a breath, I figured this would be at least twice my strength in pull, maybe more, I would need to aim quickly, there was no chance I would be able to hold and aim more precisely. Here it goes.

I pulled hard and fast, bringing the bow straight as I did so, then almost immediately let the arrow fly, it hit the bottom right of the target, I say hit, it actually took the bottom half _off_ the target, as expected my arms were on fire, so it pulled slightly to one side . . . interesting. Penumbra held out a hand for his bow, I held out mine without looking for a second arrow. The shadow shrugged and a second arrow was placed in my hands. "You do not want to hurt yourself human" he said, I said nothing, simply taking another breath, adjusting my position slightly. I pulled again, holding the draw this time, despite the fire and took aim, just as my arms felt the need to collapse I let the arrow fly, the vibration on the string so great it shook my arm, it was all I could do not to drop it. The arrow hit the target dead centre, splintering my wooden arrows to pieces and taking out a hole the diameter of my arm in the target. The range went silent for a moment, other shooters taking note. I couldn't help but grin, well my arms were dead but I had managed it.

I turned to face Penumbra and handed his bow back to him, taking care to not let the shaking in my hands show, he took it with a numb look on his face, then drew out a small piece of folded paper and a pencil, scratched his chin with the rubber side and drew a line on it, grunted and folded it back up, sliding it away into his pocket. "Not bad" he said "For a human" he gave me a slight smile, the sight slightly horrifying to anyone who hadn't grown up with an Orc and Troll in the house.

"Not bad, that was fucking _amazing_ " Lathain's voice said, he'd been stood behind Penn the entire time, I made a mental note not to call Penumbra 'Penn' to his face, I wasn't sure if he'd appreciate it much, and didn't want to find out if he was the type to take offence. The elf moved forward "My turn" he said clapping his hands together with a smile.

Taking the bow in his hands he pulled at it, testing the weight as I had done; I couldn't recall Lathain having ever fired a bow, I knew he'd taken the same lesson we all had in the amazon but still, he'd preferred his knives and pistols over any other projectile. I hadn't seen much of his hand to hand either. I was too curious to see how he would do to leave straight away. I stood to one side, massaging my aching arms as he proceeded

"Arrow please" he grinned, one beautifully fletched arrow was dutifully given and he took up his position beside me, he pulled back the line easily, holding for what seemed like an excruciating amount of time before letting the arrow fly loose. The arrow hit the base of the target, the fallen face clearly not what Lathain had expected. A second arrow was presented.

"I got a second shot" I explained "it's only fair" I received a shrug for that, and the second arrow was let free. Again, on target but nowhere near the centre, Lathain cursed under his breath, handing over the bow to me; I felt the shaking of his arms as he did so feeling a little better at myself that I hadn't been the only one to struggle with the huge bow. Penn simply grunted, but Lathain wasn't done, he shot Penn a grin and flicked his wrist, lightning quick, looking out down the range a throwing knife was embedded into the back target, having flown _through_ the hole created by my arrow to hit dead centre. A way to win that was for sure. I couldn't help but grin, and handed back the bow to Penn. "Well boys, I'll let you be, I'm going to find a place for breakfast" sliding from the booth under the arm of Penumbra who was once again placing a pencil line on his folded paper.

 _Strange one that guy_. I thought as I left, I felt the shadow following me instantly as I left, I caught a brief reflection of my follower, Scathe. I ignored her, the casino floor was packed with meta humans of all kinds, she kept up with my pace, I briefly caught Whisperer's eye as he surveyed the entrance on constant look out, he gave me a nod and I acknowledged him, using the line of sight to cast a mind link. The effort was harder than I had expected, but remembered where I was, casino's didn't allow magic on the gambling floor. The signal, for lack of a better term was fuzzy but I could still make him out.

 _Do you know you have someone following you?_ he asked

 _Yes she's followed me from the range_ I told him

 _Want me to shake her up a bit?_

 _Nope, I got this one_ I assured him

 _Let me know if you need me_ he said _Also you're attracting attention from the guards, I'd drop your spell, and you aren't supposed to be able to cast in here_ he warned

 _Very true, I'll catch you later then_ dropping the spell and taking a covert glance about, sure enough I was indeed being followed by several guards now, each dropping back as they saw I was intending to leave anyway. As I reached the door Scathe finally caught up, tapping me on the shoulder.

"Ghost, a moment" she said, I got the impression she wasn't asking

"I'm just out for breakfast" I told her "Join me if you must" and continued walking, I'm not sure what it was that she saw in my stance but she didn't argue, instead falling into step beside me.

We walked in silence until we reached the equivalent of china town; the streets were loud, bustling with activity, I found a small restaurant and took a seat. Scathe, who had been silent up till now sat opposite, I ordered a bowl of ramen and sat back, arms folded whilst Scathe declined a meal then waited for her to speak.

"Ghost" she began "Lathain tells me you're a master infiltrator" she said, eying up my slight figure, "I need your help with something" I motioned for her to continue. She looked about her nervously then leaned forward "If the plan fails, I need a back up, I need you to _steal_ the data chip" she whispered, she seemed particularly nervous, her dark green eyes pleading with me. A nagging thought formed in my brain and tried to catch my attention

"I had already considered that possibility" I told her, the image in my brain refused to form properly

"What do you need?" she asked "If you need resources to meet you in Neo Tokyo I can provide them for you" I tried not to laugh

"I only need me and KC" I told her, there was a good reason KC was sticking around, and not just because she had been dragged along. The she-elf looked at me hard for a moment, she seemed . . . scared

"I will pay additional if the need arises" she said "I need the chip to be unusable"

"But you still need to show that it isn't linked to you" I confirmed "I get it, you look like you did everything within your power to get the chip to the college vaults and your employer can't hurt you" I cocked my head to one side "Why are you so afraid of them?" I asked, curious now "You're a high born, you can work anywhere, and likely for better money too"

Scathe fidgeted in her seat and said nothing. The only reason she would be this uncomfortable would be if they had something on her, or she had a secret that she didn't want them to know about, I recalled her earlier comment, _my employers will start to ask uncomfortable questions_ , she had said. She was a high born runner, like Lathain, it wasn't common, but it wasn't unheard of.

"Who are you running from?" I asked "Them? Or someone else you know?" I knew all too well about hiding from my own family. Scathe didn't meet my eyes and stood as my food arrived

"Anything you need" she said bowing slightly as she turned to go

This mission looked to be full of strange occurrences. In my mind the nagging thought I had been trying to work out huffed loudly and crossed its arms in annoyance.


	13. Chapter 13

Later that day Penumbra brought us together in the hotel room, and in his hands he clutched a slim metal case. At first it looked like any ordinary steel case with a basic handle. The kind you saw on old crime movies where the transporter will cuff himself to the case. But the opening looked highly complex.

"This is my demonstration model" Penumbra grunted as he placed the case on the table. "The case that transports the chip will be brand new, never used and can only be accessed by a code chosen by the client"

KC seemed less than impressed "Why don't we make the modifications before it goes into the case" she grumbled

"I agree it would be easier" Lathain said "but the chip is arriving here from Scathe's work with a host of guards, she has to oversee the transition to input the codes in front of the goons"

"So she's being watched on this too" Whisperer mused "Do you think they know about her?" Lathain simply shrugged

"They might" he added "we can't discount it"

"Alright" KC interrupted "So Miss 'Perfect Boobs' has to put the device in the case and then lock it. I assume you're going to tell me why she can't just give us the codes?" Penumbra's expression twisted into what might be considered a smile, it looked, in all honesty, mildly horrifying

"The codes come in triplicate" Penumbra said "Scathe and two others will input the codes" He flipped the case to show a small hole in the side "There is also a physical key which is needed, each key is unique to the case, and no" he said looking at KC "you can't use a lock pick" KC held up her hand in defeat and sat back, playing with the twists of her hair.

"So once the codes are set by three different people, and the magic tiny key the case is locked" Lathain summed up "what else?"

Penumbra lifted the case to open the locks, as he did so there was a soft hiss sound. "Positive or negative pressure?" I asked

"Well observed. The case holds a vacuum space inside it. The internal compartment is temperature controlled and the item will be clasped in position. If the clasps are released then an alarm goes off, if the temperature fluctuates too wildly an alarm goes off, if the pressure inside changes . . ."

"Let me guess" Lathain interrupted "an alarm goes off?"

"Indeed" Penumbra said

"What kind of clasps are we talking about?" I asked penumbra opened up the demo case. The inside was lined in a hard foam and in the centre, roughly the size of a sheet of office paper and the depth of a coffee mug was a wire basket. The basket was thinly spaced wires; if you were lucky a mechanical pencil lead might fit through the gaps. In the lid there lay a second woven basket, this one more like a lid. The edge was rimmed in a red tape

"Is that thermite?" KC asked nudging Lathain aside

"Yes" Penumbra answered "Once the object is placed inside and the key locked the thermite is triggered and the two halves fuse" KC nodded approvingly, anything with ammo or explaosives she was particularly keen on.

"Another problem to worry about" Lathain said "Even if we get the case open we need to break into the wire basket without damaging the seal, or it'll give the game away"

"The basket is mage proof" Penumbra added watching Lathain as he looked at me expectantly

"What?" Lathain said, suddenly surprised "You didn't tell me that" he said suddenly looking peeved

"The basket cannot be re-heated or re-soldered through use of magic, only none magical energy may be used" Penumbra said "not that it will do you much good to have a mage helping anyway" that hint of pride appeared again

"I think the issue that is in order to get to the item inside you have to have already breached the vaccum" Whisperer mused

"You are correct" Penumbra said "You may be able to open the case, but you would be able to tell if the device itself had been tampered with" I pondered that scenario for a while, Lathain asked a few other questions about the digital coding used and could it be tampered with to make it look like the alarm had not been triggered, he asked about matrix submersion. Whisperer watched the exchange intently, casting a glance across to me every so often, I tried not to blush remembering the last time I had seen him, and I bit my lip to keep my mind in the game, Whisperer's eyes quickly swung away.

"So why by boat?" KC's voice cut through my thoughts

"Well I figure the case needs to compensate for movement and travel, a sharp jolt of brakes here, a sharp left there, so it would have a delay on the system at least" Lathain said proudly

"So you're saying if the device was on water then it would be constantly changing, having a constant delay" Whisperer said "clever" Penumbra raised a feathered brow and shrugged

"We shall see" he said. It must be hard for Penn to talk about his transport case, the guy had obviously take a lot of time developing it and to give away the secret to the runner community must really bite.

Lathain spent much of the evening with Penumbra going through the specifications and designs, trying to see how to crack the case. I left them to it and went to find a quiet place where I could use the public comm. unit. Whisperer found me in the bar a few hours later.

"So you think they can crack it?" he asked sitting beside me

"Lathain can crack pretty much anything given time" I said shutting off the comm. unit, the screen now dark

"What are you working on?" he asked

"Contingency plan" I said sitting back and stretching "The boat we've booked leaves tomorrow morning, Lathain has about twenty hours on the water to crack the beast, after he gets it out he needs to re-write the program, then after he's done that he needs to get the device back into the case without setting off the alarms, it's a pretty tough gig"

Whisperer shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "I meant to speak with you earlier" he said "You seem pissed at me, last night . . ." he began.

I shook my head "I'm not pissed about last night" I interrupted, "I guess I'm a little pissed at you still from the Kabal" I admitted

"The Kabal?" Whisperer asked, clear confusion across his face "It wasn't my decision to take you off the case Ghost" he said, I sighed

"Not that" I told him "what you said to me in your room before I left, it was disrespectful"

His brow furrowed further, he glanced away a moment as if trying to see back in time, when he glanced back to me I could tell he had no idea what I was talking about. "In your room after I went to go pack, we met up and you told me about the barrier to Eleanor's room, you were all . . ." I waved my hand up and down, the words not coming forward. Now he looked thoroughly confused

"Ghost, I hadn't seen you since you left me room with Ethan and Eleanor" he said "that was the last time I saw you until yesterday" he cocked his head to one side "are you sure we spoke?" he asked.

I paused. Of course I was sure what I had seen, but then as I thought about it a few things hadn't added up, the cold demeanour, the rapid change despite only seeing him moments before, the lewd glance.

"Did you even go to Eleanor's room to check the barrier?" I asked, the pieces fitting into place, Whisperer shook his head

"No, though now you mention it I wish I had, if her room was protected then a man shouldn't have been able to get into the room . . ." he trailed off in thought

"A shape shifter?" I asked

"Must be, that would explain why you spoke with me though I have no memory of it, and why Eleanor said the intruder looked like Ethan, but it still wouldn't explain how he got into Eleanor's room" I sighed in relief, I finally had an answer as to why he had been such an ass, it wasn't him.

"Do you think shifters can change sex?" I asked

"I've never heard of one that has" he said "but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, shifters by their nature are secretive" I glanced out across the room and found Penumbra sitting alone with the case going over notes from earlier.

"Would you excuse me?" I said, slipping from my booth I went to sit with Penumbra

"Hey Penn" I said cheerily, momentarily forgetting my no nickname rule "can I sit with you?"

"Of course" the troll indicated a seat before him, he moved aside some paperwork to make space for me as I sat, my eye catching on a small folded piece of paper, the corner exposed I saw my name written in pencil.

"Do I need to know?" I asked indicating the exposed paper; Penn raised a feathered brow and slid the paper my way. I unfolded the rest of it to find a list of names, all from the team, all neatly written in tiny handwriting with a carefully placed line through each one.

"I make it my mission to test each person I work with." He said

I studied the list; there was a star next to my name and Whisperer's. All the boys and KC had a cross next to them. "So does this tell you who is worth working with?" I asked

"In a manner of speaking yes" he said, he turned to look over at Whisperer who was just leaving. "You are in a relationship with that human?" he asked, his voice heavy with curiosity

"Not exactly" I said feeling my face heat "Why is it your business to know?"

He levelled his gaze at me "people who are in love often make stupid decisions" he straightened up and flexed his stooped shoulders, he raised a brow as if waiting for me to retaliate, I simply shrugged

"I can't say nothing is going on" I admitted, remembering last night in the fountain "but there's nothing so serious as to affect my judgement, at least not yet" I said as truthfully as I was able

"I see" Penn said leaning back. He pointed to the paper "KC is not with them?"

"Them?"

"The other men" he said, I laughed loudly, drawing the brief attention of the next table

"No, she's just being herself around them, which is insanely seductive and sassy" I explained, a feathered brow raised again

"So she is not interested in any of them?" he asked

"Probably not, or if she is it's a phase" I began, Penn's expression changed, a slight flush across his face "why, are you interested?" I teased.

The resulting facial expression is one I will always remember, a burning scarlet colour glowing through the coating of rainbow feathers, Penn wisely said nothing and spent a moment in careful study of the bottom of his pint glass.

"You came here to ask me a question?" he said after a moment of regaining his composure.

"I did" I confirmed, I pointed to the case and his now empty pint glass "Can I borrow these?" I asked. Penn shrugged and then nodded. I wiped the pint glass then placed it inside the case. I handed it back. "Can you lock this?" I asked, he shrugged and dutifully produced a small key, he input some codes into the small pad on the front, taking care not to let me see which codes were being used. The tiny metal key was inserted and turned locking it and there was a slight sound of hissing for a moment before Penumbra slid the case back to me. "I'll bring it back" I promised "Thanks Penumbra" I grabbed the case and moved off.

"You may call me Penn" he mumbled as I left

It was dark by the time I returned to the suite. Whisperer and Penn were awake and sitting in the lounge, glasses in hand. The item would be arriving in the morning and then we would be travelling to the docks to catch our boat. Whisperer looked ready to stand as I walked in

"Oh, we thought you'd already gone to bed" he said "no one saw you after dinner so . . ." he trailed off looking at me "you're soaked" he said. Indeed I was forming quite the puddle on the floor from my dripping wet clothes. I shrugged

"I fell in the fountain" I said, I handed Penn the case "didn't go quite as I had hoped" I said. Penn smiled

"I know or I would have been informed" he said tapping his comm. unit

"Indeed, it certainly needs some work" I said "anyway gentlemen I am obviously in need of a change of attire and it is quite late so I'll see you both in the morning, good night" I slipped to my room. Penumbra was laughing at me as he unlocked the case to retrieve the glass inside. I caught the look of confusion just before the bedroom door closed.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning we assembled early in the lounge, cases packed we were waiting patiently for the three new comers to finish inputting their codes into the new transport case. The data chip and reader were small, about the size of an almond and a saucer respectively. Now safely locked within the case the three huge trolls who delivered the item handed the case to Penumbra who took it solemnly. After that we headed down to the cars.

Scathe followed us handing Lathain a package.

"These are your travel visas" she said "it took a while due to some of your aliases not being logged on the system properly" she slid an eye towards KC who simply shrugged; her actual SIM could not be used because according to her personnel file she had been dead for six years. Usually in these circumstances we would get Torrin to fix up some visa, but with him gone . . .

"Remember" Scathe said as she handed the personnel information for the men who would be claiming the case on the other side "this isn't just for me, it's for the community; do whatever you have to do" she said then left.

Penn was to be cuffed to the case for the entire trip; the cuffs like the case were also alarmed.

The boat captain scanned our travel permits and allowed us on board with no problems. We were the only passengers on the small vessel so we did not have to worry about keeping our guard up around other people. Once we were on the water we congregated in the mess hall

"Right!" Lathain said clapping his hands together loudly "let's get this show on the road" Penumbra dutifully placed his hand and the case on the table in front of Lathain

"How long until you get in?" Whisperer asked, Lathain grinned

"By our calculations we should be in within the hour" he said "I have a five hour limit, after that time I will be cutting into matrix time, for which I have allowed ten hours, giving me five hours to put the device back in the case" he laughed "let's see if we can be in and out in less than half that shall we?" his eagerness was infectious.

"Do you need me here?" I asked "I'm going to get some air" I said, the motion of the water making my stomach feel queasy. I had been on ship before, but they had been huge cruisers which were as solid to walk on as dry land, this was a small boat, light enough to bob on the choppy waters. I made my exit, KC following, bored with the break in if it were to take so long.

"You want some company?" she said, I nodded and we made our way up to the deck where I sat staring out at the open ocean before me, the horizon dotted with a few vessels but otherwise clear. "How are you feeling?" she asked

"Better" I admitted.

It took a while but eventually my stomach grew accustomed to the movement of the ship. KC didn't seem fazed at all and spent much of the time sharpening her knives, though I doubted any of them needed it.

"You given any more thought to your back up plan?" she asked

"A little" I said "Are you sure you want to be the one to help?" I asked

KC laughed at me "Look it's been a long while but if I don't help out with this then I'm not really helping much at all am I?" she said. She flipped a blade in her hands sighting down along its length "Jimmy comm'd me to let me know he had paperwork on the go, it won't be ready for another couple of days though" she said "You'll need to match the description he's using" she said

"Probably best" I said "This place is working with my step father, I don't want to be in the middle of a break in and have facial recognition trigger the alarm" _or did you?_ My mind thought evilly. I quickly shut away that thought. KC nodded in agreement.

KC was the only person in the team other than Lathain who knew about my past. Lathain had put the pieces together some time ago, and Whisperer I knew had suspicions but his information was vague. KC however knew much more. It's hard to keep the secrets of your past from someone that lived in the same house, when that person would be shaking you awake to pull you out of whatever nightmare had decided to rear its ugly head that night. So I told her everything, and she had listened. She didn't judge, didn't comment, didn't apologise or offer any empty words of comfort, she simply took it in, thanked me for helping her understand and left it at that.

Time drew on and Lathain had yet to crack the case, I glanced at my watch, he had been at it for five hours now, he would be eating into his matrix assigned time

"I'll be back in a second" I told KC, she grunted and carried on with her work, the movements smooth and fluid.

"How goes it?" I asked Whisperer as I entered the mess hall

"Not well" Whisperer confirmed; Lathain was sweating with the concentration as he attempted to break the coding on the case. I tapped the elf on the shoulder breaking his focus

"What?!" he snapped at me, clearly frustrated, he looked at me and his features softened "I'm sorry, this is just . . . "

I pulled the case towards me and pulled the small wire Lathain had connected from the case, he looked fit to burst at me but Penn stopped him. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes in focus, feeling for the magic in the air around me and within me, pulling on strands I pushed the energy into my hand. Blocking out the room and its watchers I pushed my hand into the case. Now for the tricky part.

Lathain could not take his eyes off my hand as I slowly shifted focus, I needed complete control as the tips of my fingers materialised within the case just fractionally. But that was all I needed to find the chip and hold it. I was sweating heavily as I poured more focus, allowing my spell to envelope the chip and the reader, and with excruciating slowness pulled them both free of the case.

Lathain's eyes were like dinner plates, at some point in my performance Whisperer had stood and moved closer.

"You've got at least twelve hours" I told him, swaying slightly, Whisperer was there in a second, supporting me in case I should fall.

"How did you?. . ." Lathain asked in awe "We're on water . . ." he sputtered "the mage proofing . . ."

"Twelve hours" I repeated, unsteadily walking from the room, I needed to lie down; behind me Penumbra was scribbling furiously on his folded paper.

I got to my tiny bunk and collapsed on it, damn water had made the cast so much harder, I sighed and closed my eyesand was asleep in moments.


	15. Chapter 15

When I awoke I immediately went to the mess hall, thinking to see how Lathain was faring, but the hall was empty, no sign of the device or Lathain, or indeed anybody. The sky was pale, dawn just creeping through the port hole into the room. The room smelled strongly of cigarettes and I assumed that the crew had been here not long ago, a suspicion confirmed by the presence of a small guitar lying in the corner of the room that had not been there before. It must belong to a member of the crew. I thought to ignore it at first but it had been a long while since I had played

The strings hummed beneath my fingers, slightly out of tuning, the salt air had not been kind to the steel, I tentatively twisted the machine head to bring the E note into being, the pressure needed to hold the notes cut the steel into my fingers a little, but I persevered until I was happy the notes were true. I glanced about the mess hall, still no crew about, I had no idea who's guitar this belonged to but right now I didn't care, I just needed something to keep my mind occupied, still the idea of using someone else's property made me a little nervous.

I placed my fingers carefully giving an experimental strum, the guitar sang for me and I smiled, choosing another chord randomly, this time a simple G, an F followed, a little muted perhaps but bar chords were hard to get used to, especially after so long, a few more random notes and I was away, at first it was the guitar, just the feel of the strings, the sharp bite as they dug into the skin, the deep vibration of the body from the sounds. I picked a slow tempo, a basic roll around of chords what Torrin referred to as a four chord pop song, then I began humming along, trying to remember words to tunes I had diligently spent hours practising in the years before. The thought of Torrin made me smile and I adjusted the tone and pace, a country number. Brad Paisley one of the greats from Tor's collection, and one of my favourite artists to play, a little too deep for me to sing, but I made a minor adjustment so I could manage without too much additional work.

I let the sound take me back to the kitchen in Seattle, dancing around the table with the sugar pixie Orc that was Torrin, back in the days when the only thought or care was our next job and whether Torrin's next baking session would blow up our house. I felt like I hadn't been home in a long time, without realising it I changed the song again, a lullaby that Torrin had sung on occasion, I had put music to it many years later, and though I sang it there in that cafeteria it was Torrin's great booming voice I heard. The last note rang out to the silent audience, and an audience I had, as I opened my eyes I found Whisperer leaning casually in the doorway, his blue eyes fixed to mine. I blushed hugely and moved to standing but he raised a hand

"Don't get up on my account, please" he gestured me to sit again "Continue" I felt my face blush as red as my hair, he smiled at me then "I didn't mean to disturb you, I was passing nearby and was . . . intrigued"

"I'm not much of a singer" I warned him at his insistence for me to begin again

"I would very much disagree, you are as good a singer as dancer I would wager" he said with a smile, I blushed again remembering Vegas "but that aside please" Face still red and now with shaking hands I plucked a few notes. _Just breathe_ I thought to myself, _just concentrate on the music_ , my mind pulled out a song, a soft ballad, hands shaking I began to play, softly starting to sing, but gradually gaining the confidence to continue my voice grew stronger, as the song ended he clapped, striding over to sit beside me. "That was quite amazing, I didn't realised you had a musical ear" I blushed and shrugged.

"I bought Torrin a guitar, but he couldn't play, kept snapping the strings, so I learnt" I explained, Whisperer motioned the guitar on my lap, curious I handed it over, he sat it on his knee, plucking experimentally at the strings, tentative and soft, he seemed unsure about something. Then shot me a sly grin and began to play, a blues style number, intricate picking patterns blended with strong strums. Then he began to sing, his voice deep it vibrated in key to the boom of the guitar, I felt goose bumps rise on my arms, he had such a soulful voice, steady, calm I felt very much at ease sat with him there. The music ended and he gave me a shy smile.

"Never trust a bartender who can't entertain his guests" he said

"That was beautiful" I said "Who wrote that?" again the shy smile

"A guy called Jenson"

"You sound like you knew him personally" I noted

"Better than I know myself" he said plucking at the strings again. A cough in the doorway caught my attention, Lathain stood there

"Amazing I'm sure" he said "but we're almost on land and we need to get this bad boy back in its cage" he said holding the chip between his fingers

"Did you. . ." I began but Lathain shook his head

"Not a chance" he said "the coding is too complex, I slowed the matrix right down to give me time to process it but still nothing, I feel like I've been at it for weeks" he sighed "looks like we'll have to settle for plan B"

"Steal it?" Whisperer asked, Lathain nodded again

"But it's more complex than that, the coding works in tandem with another device" he said " this chip needs more than one reader at a time, so it'll have to be done in situ"

"So the bad guys will need to have it plugged in for you to get into it?" Whisperer queried

"Pretty much" he grinned "We might need you to walk through a few walls" he said to me, I shrugged; we had planned for this as a back-up. Lathain handed me the chip and pulled the reader from his pocket "I don't get it" he said confused "I can normally crack anything, but you know what the worst part is? . . . I feel like I've faced this type of coding before, I just don't know where from" he scratched his head and sat down

"How long until we reach dock?" I asked

"About an hour" Lathain said "the captain thought he was doing us a favour by getting us here faster, I didn't want to draw suspicion by telling him otherwise" behind the elf Penumbra appeared, his eyes looked tired and sleepy

"I guess I better put this back then" I said rolling up my sleeves

"It would be wise to keep our eyes open" Penumbra said "I just found out a plane on the way to Neo Tokyo was blown up over the water during the night"

"Private?" Whisperer asked, Penn nodded

"You think it was Scathe?" I asked, Lathain shook his head

"She's supposed to be staying in Vegas until later today" he said "but I doubt it is a coincidence, someone else might be after the chip"

"Or Scathe might have attacked her own plane to make it look like someone else was after it" KC grumbled walking into the canteen, her eyes were heavy with sleep "The captain tells me we're nearly here?" she asked

"Something doesn't sit right with me about her" I said, that nagging feeling raised its head again, but refused to clear enough for me to understand. "Anyway, we're wasting time" I said rolling the chip between my fingers and beckoning Penn to step closer.


	16. Chapter 16

Within the hour we were having our papers checked again, this time on the Tokyo side. I played interpreter for the group, though I was insanely tired. The spell had taken my energy from me, but without the time to rest we were now rushing to find a cab to take us to the drop off. KC produced a stim patch, which whilst giving me a light boost was not really sufficient for the state I was in.

The cab dropped us at a hotel where we were met by a group of men who were there to pick up the case. Our earlier than planned arrival had pleased them greatly. They introduced themselves, one wearing a lab coat with the Neo Tokyo college symbol stitched onto it.

Lathain confirmed their ID through comm. unit address and we handed over the case, cuffing it from Penumbra to the bulky troll that made up half the body weight of the trio alone. With that the money was transferred to our accounts and we were free to carry on with our day. The three men left with their prize and we were left wondering what to do next.

Lathain booked a suite suitable for six people, all with adjoining rooms and we headed upstairs. Penumbra and Lathain did a sweep of the rooms to make sure there were no hidden surveillance and we gathered around the table to talk

"Does Scathe know that we failed our mission?" KC asked taking out a sharp knife to pick her nails with. Beside her Lathain scowled, he did not like the fact that he had been unable to break the coding surrounding the chip

"She will find out later when she finds we are not at the Airport" Penumbra said "it was important that she have no further comm. communication with us after we left Vegas, after all she was just there to give us the mission, not keep tabs" that at least made sense, I thought "we were to pass her in the airport as we got back to Vegas"

"So we'd 'bump' into her" KC nodded, impressed "So if we're not there then she'll know we're sticking around to find the sucker and lift it from the college" she guessed, Penn smiled and nodded

"So what's the next step?" Lathain asked "any ideas?"

"I have one" Whisperer and I spoke at the same time, I gave him a quick glance to tell him to go first, he motioned for me to go ahead instead.

"We enrol as students, their autumn term started just a few weeks ago so they're still taking late entry, that'll give us access to find the lab that they're keeping the chip in, after that we can gather data and find a weak spot to break in from" Lathain looked impressed

Penumbra nodded in thought and looked to Whisperer who shrugged "I had the same idea, except I'm probably not going to pass as a student; I was thinking a teacher instead, but essentially the same plan"

"Great minds huh?" KC snorted, hiding her face behind her hair, mocking me she looked amused. I felt my cheeks heat slightly and tried to ignore her.

"Why not both?" Lathain asked, he typed away at his mobile comm. bringing up the college site "We're in luck, they're hiring for their canteen crew, not a tutor but it'll get us inside"

Penn looked thoughtful "I won't be much use to you on the inside" he said "I will stay here and work through the coding we retrieved from the device, we will need to know how to crack it once we get hold of it." Whisperer agreed to stay with Penn and work on the codes, Lathain wanting the espionage of the spy front would unlikely be able to sit still in a hotel whilst the rest of us were away. He also argued that he would be in a better position to identify any comm. trace from the device.

"Me and Ghost already planned a fair bit of this" KC said "I have a guy who is working on our passes"

"Settled then" Lathain said "We're going in" I laughed and stood

"In that case I need to go shopping" I said, dragging KC with me.

It took nearly two days to get all the supplies and paperwork that we needed, Lathain had aced his interview and would be starting on the Monday morning along with me and KC, we just had to put a few finishing touches onto our disguises . . .

"I don't like it" K.C complained from the bathroom "this isn't going to work as a plan, I don't like it"

"You don't have to like it" I told her "You just have to go ahead with it" She threw open the door enough for me to throw a plastic bag at her before closing it again. A few minutes later the door opened again and a very different image of K.C stood there.

"I don't like this" She repeated, she blinked as she saw me "Wow, that's uncanny, you look just like . . . "

"Like a child?" I finished for her, she nodded. I had to admit even I was surprised by how much younger I looked, how much I looked like I had done all those years ago. Brown contact lenses hid my green eyes; a cheap bottle of temporary hair dye had covered the fire berry red, the dark red uniform I now wore complete with blazer made me look like I was sixteen, perhaps even younger. KC had dyed the bleach streak from her hair and heavy foundation had covered up most of her scarring. There was a knock at the door to the room, K.C answered it, Whisperer stood there, a little surprised to see K.C in her own matching uniform, she didn't look as young as I did, but would certainly pass for a college student. The idea was two girls, two chances of getting close to the research room.

"Errr, I didn't expect you to be here" Whisperer apologised to K.C, she shrugged and walked passed him, leaving the two of us alone, Whisperer watched her go, he didn't look happy at all. He turned to look at me, whatever words he'd been about to say had died in his throat as he took in the slip of school girl before him. "You look . . . different" was all he could manage, I shrugged and let him inside, he noted the prospectuses lying on the bed. KC had spent much of her time looking over her prospectus trying to decide on her courses. "You decided what you want to be when you grow up?" he asked jokingly

"A smart ass" I replied with a smile "what's up?"

He stood and scratched the back of his neck, nervous "I'm not sure I like this plan of yours" he said

"Why not?" I asked "it's not much different than yours"

"Yes but in mine the tutors get more access and they're not monitored every second of the day" he said "I know this place is part of your past, that you're connected to it, maybe you shouldn't be the one going in" he said, I sighed, if he was going to get like this every time I put myself in danger then we had an issue

"Look" I told him "We're on the inside, Lathain is going to be on the staff, that's all there is to it" I looked him in the eye feeling mildly frustrated "It's not your place to protect me from my past" I told him "besides, I am absolutely zero help on the outside of this, I don't know anything about hacking and if you put a comm. unit near me there'll be a me shaped hole in the wall" I sighed heavily "I'm doing this and I don't need your permission"

"But Ghost . . ."

"No buts'" I said "I don't see you talking KC out of it, so this is clearly something between you and me, and I told you it's not your job to look out for me"

"You think this is about us?" Whisperer asked, his voice edged "Ghost I don't even know if there is an ' _us_ ', we kiss and never talk about it, you spend the night asleep in my arms but the next day it's like it never happened. You have a past, I get it, but the way you are around me I'm not so sure you're looking for a future either." His voice was raised, clearly the frustration in him turning to something else "you tell me it's not my place to protect you, but we're a _team_ , that's what teams do, we tell you when you're over the line, when it's too dangerous, I'm looking out for you Ghost, not just because I _have_ to but because I _want_ to. I know that there's something more behind this Ghost, something doesn't feel right and I want to stop you from getting hurt"

"Then why not protect KC? Or Lathain?" I challenged "Why me? I don't know what this 'us' thing is either Whisperer but I know what it's not. It's not an excuse for me to sit out of every bad situation. I've survived all this time without you, now is no different. Being a runner is who I am" I told him "To take this away from me is to change me; I don't have anything else besides this. Did you think that by asking me to step aside that would make me like you more?" I folded my arms defensively, voice raised "Whisperer you're asking me to stop being me! I do this not because I need to, but because I want to" I told him, using his words against him

"That's not true" he began

"But it is!" I corrected "You know _nothing_ about me Whisperer, no one here does"

"Because you never _tell_ me anything" he quipped back, exasperated

"And you do?" I retorted "you think I'm defenceless, you're wrong, I've been in worse situations than this, faced _literal_ demons way worse than you can imagine and I'm still here" I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt, exposing the lightning scar " _this_ is my proof that I'm not that easy to kill" I told him, the scar on my arm glowed bright, betraying my anger more than I wanted it to, I needed to vent more than my feelings.

"I'm just trying . . ."

"Trying to what?" I interrupted "you're treating me like a child. Of all of us going into that building did you really think I was the least prepared? _I can walk through fucking walls Whisperer_ , they can't hold me" I stepped aside "and neither can you" I walked away from him. His face crushed, I needed to get out of there before he could see me cry.


	17. Chapter 17

"You're sure about this?" Lathain asked me the next morning, K.C was already in the car with Whisperer, he didn't say a word to me, and kept his eyes averted. I nodded. "O.K then, just remember, if you find what we're after then KC will pip me or Penumbra, we'll be with you before any shit hits the fan"

"Careful Lathain" I told him "You almost sound like you're worried about me" I gave him a grin, he leveled his eyes at me, serious for a moment, he dropped his voice

"Whisperer told me what happened, are you two ok?" he asked

"Nothing that we can't work out later" I told him, laughed and pulled my hair into a swift braid "Aren't you suppose to be heading to get your chef outfit?" I asked, he simply smirked and opened the car door for me.

Loaded into the car we set off, Whisperer, driving, didn't say a word the whole journey, KC looked annoyed, constantly biting at her fingernails. We soon pulled up outside the gates of the school and were met in reception by the head.

"Ladies, you got here safely I see" the head said striding forward to shake a reluctant hand "Please hand over your bags so we can get you settled and we'll give you a tour" Our bags were handed to a young woman who carried them off, presumably to our rooms. The college held a dormitory on campus and whilst it would be easier to stay off campus the ID's we were working under meant we needed to play the part and stay overnight too. The deputy head approached with a slim folder for each of us. Whisperer had emptied the boot then driven away, he hadn't looked back.

We had arrived mid season and were expected to start classes immediately, we followed the head on a quick tour of the school grounds. By the time we were done we were left outside the councillor's office to go over our class schedule.

"Alone at last" KC noted flicking through the folder the head had given her, soon enough though we were inside the councillor's office with our new year group tutor.

"In there you will find your respective timetables and a copy of the school rules, for the smokers you are permitted two fifteen minute breaks during the school day, you will use the shelters provided. Each student must participate in at least one physical sport activity, and one language class, Miss Evans" the teacher pointed with her nose to KC "You will be given Japanese language lessons to catch you up with the written language here, you will not be permitted to use your comm. as a translator during those classes. You will both attend English classes as standard, Miss Terris" A pointed look at myself "You have currently been enrolled on the Elvish course as your native tongue is Japanese, you may choose your sport for yourself, please fill in the application in your folder, our netball team however is currently full and will not be accepting new applicants" Further information was droned on about the school and house rules, eating times, lights out, curfew, rules on racial handling and the zero tolerance to boys on the women's housing unit, male family members were permitted with written authorisation from the form tutor or deputy. The school itself was massive, a huge complex of buildings, it would be easy to get lost in a place like this. The deputy escorted us to our first lesson, Math for me but KC would be taking different classes, starting with Biology.

"Miss Truman, your new student" The deputy all but shoved me into a room, fifty pairs of eyes stared at me, a very nervous moment, as a runner I was used to hiding in the shadows and not being seen, being seen meant being dead. The tutor stared down a pair of horn rimmed glasses to take in my frail figure.

"Take a seat child, you can do your introductions in form time" she turned back to the board, laser pen in hand, Pythagoras theorem outlined mid way through working of a puzzle. I made my way to the closest seat. A huge troll girl sat next to it.

"Is this taken?" I whispered, she shook her massive head and I took a seat. Noting the small comm. device linked to the desk, I shot a quick look around, and almost every student wore the small device pressed to their temple, no doubt so they could manipulate the board for solving equations. I leaned across to the troll, she did not wear one. "Do I have to wear this?" The troll shook her head, motioning for me to look forward; I did so, trying to pay attention to the lesson. I knew Pythagoras already even though I technically didn't finish high school; Torrin had seen fit to ensure I still got a full education at home. A moment later a slip of paper was slid across to my table.

 _You only have to wear them if you are answering a question, and it's Grenda_ I smiled and scribble back _Skyler_ , waiting until the tutor had her back turned before sliding the paper across. Math passed quickly, though I still felt nervous, as whenever the tutor wasn't looking it seemed every student was craning their necks to see who the new girl was. I kept quiet and focused on looking like I was taking notes. As the lesson finished there was a rush to leave, Grenda enquired about my next lesson. English, so she volunteered to lead the way. I was surrounded by other students on the walk there, each asking who I was and where I came from, what my interests were. I had expected as much, though the crush was still unnerving. Ahead of the group a small squeal was heard, a bouncing elf was pointing through a classroom door window

"Girls, oh girls you have to come see the new English tutor!" she was waving and jumping so frantically that many of the girls, and even many of the boys temporarily forgot about me and raced ahead to stare in, cries of "Oh lord he's gorgeous!" and "Is that legal?" along with other screams of appreciation from the hormonal crowd of girls. Grenda shrugged and used her huge size to clear a path, so it would seem that we were in the very class with a new mysterious tutor. Looking in as I found a desk the tutor stood with his back to the class. Typing onto a wall keypad, he was tall and blond, wearing a simple white shirt and trousers, which I cheekily took a glimpse of the back side . . . and then froze, it couldn't be . . .

I wasn't sure what shocked me more, the fact that _he_ was here, or the fact that I had made a positive identification from a backside that I hated to admit I had spent a lot of time admiring. Lathain turned to grin at the class of starry eyed girls.

"Good Morning Ladies, I'm your new English tutor, shall we spend a moment getting your books and comm. uploaded and then we shall begin" That cheeky grin plastered straight across his devilishly handsome face. I was going to _kill_ him.


	18. Chapter 18

The brooding teens fortunate enough to have a different class outside were shut out with the push of the door, and class was silent as they waited for Lathain to begin, I muttered a small spell under my breath, The spell bounced and I inwardly cursed at the tech gear that he carried, I muttered again to re-cast, strengthening the spell now all I needed was to touch him . . .

"Ladies, today we'll be looking into poetry and the works of Christina Rosetti, a poet of unequal class, she was a great writer of her time, beautiful and haunting words that really drive into the soul of the reader, a personal favourite of mine" he gave the class his most devastating smile "I'll give you a moment to look up the reference on your pads whilst I take the register and get to know you all a little. There was a murmur around and many of the girls and a few of the boys fluttered their eyes, fussing with hair trying to make themselves look interesting enough for a tutor. Lathain took the register as he went round, learning the names of each of the pupils. When he got to my desk, I had to contain the urge to smack him across the face, hoping that my face looked neutral, rather than letting the black cloud show.

"It appears I don't have you in my register, Miss . . . "

"Terris" I said through slightly gritted teeth "Skyler Terris", the grin broadened

"Ah yes the new arrival, you and Miss Evans correct? I was told I was not the only new starter on site" he held out a hand to me "Good luck with your first day" The whole class took a breath in as I took the hand to shake it, the spell complete, he moved on to the next desk, but I could at least talk to him without anyone else over hearing. He smiled a winning grin at Grenda; it is quite a sight to see a troll blush. He moved on to the next desk before I couldn't contain myself any longer

 _What do you think you're doing here?!_ I yelled inside his head, he flinched slightly, but brushed at his trousers as if he'd seen something crawling there to cover it up

 _Easy Ghost I'm just under cover here, same as you_ he said

 _But you're here! A tutor? You teach? Do you even know anything about poetry? Did Whisperer put you up to this? To keep an eye on me? Is this what you meant when you said you'd be close? Are you crazy? You nearly made me blow my cover . . ._

 _Ghost please, it's very difficult to learn a students name with you rattling on_ he said _and I have no clue what you mean about Whisperer, this was just a better option open than canteen duty_ he paused a moment _damn she's sexy as hell_ he thought

 _Lathain I can hear what you're thinking!_ I reminded him, turning to see him eyeing up a stunning human girl, no more than eighteen, a slim brunette with far too much cleavage on show. Lathain cleared his throat and continued with his register

 _Anyway Ghost, this way I can learn about the tutors too, the ones that you and KC between you don't get to speak with or come into contact with._ He was making his way to the front of the classroom again, several necks craning to spy his backside in those overly tight trousers.

"Alright class" he addressed "Lets begin with _The Goblin Market_ shall we?"

Lunchtime came around and I met up with KC, she was not happy and by the sounds of things her classes were not going too well

"What do you expect?" she claimed, dodging the advance of a keen young lad whilst trying to find a seat "I'm not exactly an academic at the best of times, even when I was young, it's been a long time since I was in any kind of formal education"

We found a seat on a bench outside, I took one look at the contents of my sandwich bag and threw it in the bin "What you got next?" I asked

"Computer science, you?"

"Oh snap!" I said with a laugh "We can go together" KC laughed and wolfed her sandwich down like it was made of air. The boy she had dodged earlier came over, chilled and cool. He looked like the stereotypical jock of the old movies in his blazer, tie undone with basketball in his hand

"Hey new chick" he said, eyeing up KC, teen hormones very evident "how about you and me go shoot some hoops, I've got some real great tricks to show you" he smiled, passing the ball from hand to hand

"Not today" KC said, not looking up "tomorrow doesn't look good either"

"But baby I've got great technique" he promised, spinning the ball on his finger tips, several of the surrounding benches paused their conversation to watch

"You're not my type" KC said "come on, let's go" she motioned and we stood to leave

"But you haven't gotten to know me yet" the boy persisted, he grabbed KC by the wrist "stay and talk a while" KC didn't even say anything she simply stared him down, it was as if the air literally dropped in temperature "You don't have to be such a bitch" he said. KC shook her hand free and turned to go, and then the boy did something stupid

He tried to grab her

One moment he was vertical, the next he was laying his back, looking up at KC from where she had flipped him onto the table. Those people that had been talking around us were now intently watching the scene before them. The boy grimaced in pain, eyes trying to focus

"You're not my type" she repeated and started to walk off, the crowd parted for her, I followed as quickly as I could before the parted red sea could close again.

"Punching him would probably have worked just as well" I told her, she smirked at me and brushed at imaginary dirt on her jacket

"It might have, but this was more dramatic" she said

"Agreed, but we're here to try and blend in so we _don't_ get caught" I reminded her. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Speaking of, we should probably try and locate the research area" I said

I pulled out the map of the college grounds that we had been given to help us get around; most of the science block was greyed out. "You think they do their research in there?" KC asked

I shrugged "no idea, but everywhere else has a tag on it" I zoomed in on the palm pad "looks like our computer class is in the same building" I told her

"Excellent" she said with a grin, stretching out "this means we can have a poke around" she headed off to the left, I laughed and gave her a short whistle, she abruptly turned and started walking to the right.

"Shut it" she warned

The Science Building was huge and looked like the building we had been shown by Scathe, a bronze plaque adorned the wall beside the main entrance preaching about an old famous guy who used to work at the school, KC gave it a passing glance and wondered aloud if the founder knew that his precious school was being used to develop weapons, virus's and computer hacking technology.

"I doubt the guy even knows what a computer is" I told her "its dated 1782" she simply shrugged and we made our way inside. The building was just as impressive inside, with high ceilings and a grand marble and hardwood staircase leading to the upper levels, KC whistled appreciatively

"Could you imagine how much this room alone would cost in this day and age?" she asked, I could tell her _exactly_ how much it cost to restore the staircase, I had been in the room when my step father had commissioned it to be repaired all those years ago.

I had expected the research areas to be secret, or to be hidden away in a dark corner of the huge building, but to my surprise a large sign pointed to the east wing, clear as day "Research & Development" I looked at KC, it couldn't be that simple could it? She gave me a look that mirrored my own before taking the east corridor.

"I suppose what Scathe said was true, if they're legitimately endorsed they wouldn't really need to hide would they?" she said

Whilst the R&D department was easy to find it soon became clear that we would need keys to get into most of the building's many rooms. Most were controlled by an electronic key fob which automatically unlocked when the fob was presented; other rooms had blacked out windows to their doors and palm pads for finger print recognition for entry. One room had a simple old fashioned key.

"We have no idea which room" KC noted "and I doubt it'd be one of the easy to breach ones" she had a point. "Could you walk through them?" she asked

I shook my head "not a good idea if I don't know who or what is on the other side" I told her. I left her to take photographs of the doors and their various locks so we could research them later, I took a walk to the wall which showed the staff on the premises. The head of the R& D department smiled out from the frame, along with photos of the senior students in charge of various projects. One frame was empty, simply a name "Dr. Theo Orion-Redgeford" I read aloud

"Quite the mouthful" KC commented, taking a snap of the board "Don't we have him next?" KC asked, I shrugged and checked the schedule, she was right; at least we'd be able to put a face to the name. KC shoved her comm. camera in her pocket and brought out a map of the premises, trying to gauge how many other rooms there were.

"Hey" a voice called out "You're not supposed to be down here" we were fortunate that we were both looking up directions and looked as lost as we really felt.

"Sorry" I explained "we're lost, we have a class with Dr Theo . . . " I trailed off trying to remember the name

"Oh, Dr T's room is this way" the student researcher said, leading us back the way we had come "up the stairs, first room on your left" she said brightly. "oh and don't let the fuzz ball bother you, he's harmless"

Fuzz ball?

We got up to the room, it was still early and we looked to be the first one's there, I tipped toed a look through the door's window but couldn't see anything

"Looks empty" I said trying the door which opened "shall we?"

"I've never been early to class in my life" boasted KC but she wandered in anyway, stopping dead in the door way

"Move over" I prompted, she stepped aside and I was assaulted by a dark cat sized form that chirruped loudly, digging in its claws it scurried over me, winding around me to rest on my shoulders. I freaked and back pedalled a moment. The two huge ears, a soft black nose and huge brown eyes appeared in my vision.

"Mei-Juu!" I was shocked "but . . . but . . ." I pulled the lithe critter from me, holding him up so I could see him and be sure I wasn't dreaming, he squirmed in my hands, trying to snuggle back into my neck.

"Hello Ghost" a voice came from the back of the room, the figure stepping forward, dressed in dark suit covered with a lab coat, his large horns curled back, making him look larger and more imposing.

"Hello Torrin"


	19. Chapter 19

"What are you doing here Ghost?" Torrin asked, striding quickly across the room to close the door behind us before anyone could see the weird exchange and blow our cover.

"What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" I asked, I was stunned, shocked even "You've been missing for _months_ "

"Working" he said gruffly

" _Here_?" KC and I asked simultaneously

"You have got to be kidding me" KC spluttered, she turned to me and pointed to Torrin "You realise that if Tor is here then he has something to do with the research"

"What do you know about that?" he asked, instantly confirming that he was involved. Mei-Juu continued to squirm, his tiny claws biting into my skin so much I had to release him, he cuddled into my neck making small chattering noises, _I_ _think he was happy to see me_ . . .

Torrin sighed and gestured for us to sit, ordinarily i would have stayd standing but the shock of seeing him here like this was just too much. KC stared at him, fuming, her arms crossed and eyes defiant

"Look" he began "You can't stay here, you'll blow my cover, and I already spent a lot of time and money making sure you wouldn't find me"

"But why? . . ." I began

"Because they have a new virus that broke my firewall" he said, a tint of anger coming through, he sighed again, looking tired "They found all the files I had on my team, they got your alias files but not your originals, the only way to protect you was to go into hiding"

"So the attack on the Kabal, that was because they were after _you?_ " I asked thinking of Kalin, I had suspected with the different attacks on places associated with Torrin, but knowing he was involved made things a little clearer.

"Yes, they were after my crew, trying to flush them out to get to me, because they knew that if they found me, then I would lead them to _you_ "

"You could have said _something_ " KC snarled "We've been worried sick" she was pissed, _I_ was pissed but I was also relieved

"We tried looking for you" I said "We only took this job because Lathain said Doc might be here"

"What about Doc?" KC asked " _Is_ she here?" he voice slowly starting to soften, the relief coming through

"Doc and Kasai are here" Torrin confirmed "she runs the college medical center" _figures_ "Amm is in the city. You didn't tell me what _you_ were doing here" he asked levelling his yellow eyes on me

"We're here about the data chip" I said "the one that arrived two days ago, we're here to steal it" I told him, he looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"I can't let you steal it" he said "I'm still working on it"

"You?" KC asked surprised "you made it?"

"No" Torrin snapped in denial "but it was the same tech that hit my computer" he sighed "look we don't have a lot of time before the other students turn up, where are you staying? I'll get word to you tonight and fill you in"

"The guys are in the Kyokun hotel" KC supplied, "We're in dorms" Tor moved to the front of the class and brought up the lesson plan

"Right, now for the love of god don't say a word whilst we're in lesson, if you laugh at me you'll be in detention for a year" he warned, KC shot me an amused look "you might want to put the fur ball down" he said "he doesn't usually interact with the students" I nodded and tried to pull Mei-Juu away from me, he chattered angrily and scrabbled until I released him, at which point he simply curled up on my shoulder again

"Easier said than done" I told him

"Maybe we could say your perfume attracts him?" KC mused, trying to come up with an excuse

"If you'd have kept your natural colour you'd have been easily different from everyone else" Torrin said, I caught a glimpse of something cross his face, it had been a long time since he had seen me with hair this colour, the memory of that night must be creeping up on him "We'll have to stick with perfume, good idea KC" he said "now . . "

Before he could continue there was a knock at the door and other students began to arrive

"My name is Skyler Terris" I said holding out my hand, a cover up on mock introduction, Torrin held out his huge clawed hand and took mine and gave it a gentle shake, KC introduced herself and then sat behind me as the rest of the class filed in.

"Sir, why is Mei-Juu sat with Skyler?" a guy asked from the back of class

"No idea" Tor said "bloody thing doesn't do what I tell it, so how should I know" he said "If you're worried about him Miss Skyler may I recommend a different perfume?"

"Yes sir" I replied bringing out the palm pad to load the lesson on matrix interaction. Mei-Juu crept down from my shoulders onto my lap and fell asleep, much to the envy of the other students. I watched KC type a short update to the team.

 _You would not believe what we found out_

No, I suppose they wouldn't.

KC stared at Torrin the entire class, she looked hurt, but then she had been just as worried about him as i was, only she didn't show it in quite the same way. I watched Tor teach with some amusement, I had only ever seen him teach running tricks, or Emmett when he was coaching on hacking. He suited the teacher lifestyle, and he certainly commanded respect from the students, young and old alike.

A tell tale twitch on his ear told me something was annoying him, without looking he threw the monitor pen across the room, smacking a young lad square in teh face. "If you try and piggy back my comm signal again boy I'll staple your bollocks to the fuse box" he barked. The class laughed, all but the young man who cowered slightly and had the decent sense to apologise.

KC smirked as I laughed along, they were laughing because they thought the young lad had been stupid, _I_ was laughing because Torrin had gone easy on him. I sighed in my mind thinking what Torrin's life would have been like if he hadn't found me. Would he have been a teacher? Would he have carried on running the shadows? For a moment I felt guilty, had I taken Torrin's life away by arriving on the scene? Mei-Juu's ears twitched and he chattered to himself, Torrin looked up and caught my eye, he frowned slightly and shook his head. It was as if he knew what I had been thinking.


	20. Chapter 20

True to his word Torrin met up with the team back at the hotel, KC and I had a few hours before curfew, as students we would be staying in dorms on campus, but we could easily be back before lights out.

Mei-Juu came with him, along with Kaden. The huge bulky dog bounded like a pup when he saw me and KC, his tail wagging constantly and with each bound his metal leg clinked heavily on the flooring. KC was covered in saliva in a matter of seconds

"Get off me ya great brute" she said, though her attempt to push him away was half hearted at best, no command would calm him until he had thoroughly licked and sniffed the life from me and KC, he slumped, happy in KC's lap whilst Torrin tried to explain the events of the last several months.

"It started back when Ghost was still in the Kabal" he began "Someone managed to break into my comm. unit and download some of my files" Whisperer looked worried at this, did he know more about me and Torrin than he had let on? Penumbra simply raised a brow in question

"I take it some of these files were special?" Penn asked, his voice rumbling

"You don't understand" Lathain said "Tor is the creator of the Clearwater technology" the statement made as if that should clear the question but Penumbra's puzzled look continued

"Clearwater was a special data bomb" Torrin explained "it was designed to search out and destroy data on individuals who had been wiped from the runner community"

"You mean make it as though they never existed?" Penn asked, Whisperer was all ears too, though his expression looked mildly bored, _did he already know all of this?_ I thought

"Indeed, clear water was the first tech of its kind to wipe out everything, birth records, SIM, aliases, it would even break into off line computers and damage files kept there, security tapes, personal comm. photos, you name it clear water erased it all"

"And this is used for all Shadowrunners?" Penn asked

"No" Torrin shook his head "Clearwater mark one was designed to remove old runners, ones who had died, it would wipe out all trace of them so they could never be tied with other runners. It was the ultimate death. But a few years ago I created Clear water mark two." He looked at me briefly "Clearwater 2.0 was designed to go a step further, it was designed to destroy data on a living person _as_ it was being created"

"How is that possible?" Penn asked "Surely you'd never be able to catch all the footage in real time?"

"It's possible, and for years it worked, runners on Clearwater 2.0 were both everywhere in the matrix and nowhere. The individual had to exist in the system for the program to be able to recognise that individual to destroy the files created, they are essentially both immortal and yet never in existence" Penumbra listened intently putting more of the pieces together

"And this was used on living people?" Whisperer asked, his question was obvious, but the tone in which he said it made me think, it was as if he already knew and was asking the question in order to hide that fact _, just how much did he know?_ Torrin nodded his confirmation

"Yes, there was only one file which held the data, the source file that Clearwater used as its search material. It's that file that was hacked, that was what the virus was after" the room was silent as the gravity was absorbed.

"How much did the virus managed to get?" Lathain asked, his eyes on me for a moment.

"Enough for me to pull certain people into hiding" Tor said "This new chip is the prototype for the virus to be spread world over, the tech will seek out Clearwater runners. The attack on my computer was the first test run"

"So how did you end up involved in its development?" KC asked

"The design team's main researcher didn't actually think it would work, when they raided my computer they also downloaded a mass data bomb which destroyed half of their stolen files, a little fail safe I put in there. The test had been deemed a bust and the researcher was fired, they put out word for a new researcher. I traced the virus IP and applied under a new alias"

"The closer to the device you were the less likely they would be to be looking for you" Penn mused

"So the attacks on the team, they weren't aimed at me specifically they were aimed at the people hidden in clear water" I guessed "but if that's so then how did they get on to me?"

"Why would they be interested in you in particular?" Penn asked, curiosity evident on his face

"That is a longer story than we probably have time for" Lathain said, this caused a frown from Whisperer, now Whisperer knew that Lathain knew who I really was, and he didn't.

"Your aliases must have been tagged" Torrin said turning back to me "Though I don't know how they knew about the safe house in Grande or Hastings, you must have been caught on camera"

"But I didn't go to Hastings in the end . . ."

Whisperer interrupted "didn't you tell me that you spoke to the other Whisperer and told him you would be heading to Hastings?" I had forgotten, mystery solved then

"What about your current alias?" Torrin asked

"It's new" KC supplied, she shrugged "I know a guy"

"Even so you should take additional care for a while" he said "I've spent the last few months trying to crack the original coding, once I have that then I can rewrite the programme to be useless or back fire on them, I made a start, they took the chip to trial on a rival Mega Corp and it failed, you were hired to bring back the chip from that test"

"So that's why I recognised the coding" Lathain mused to himself "I thought it felt familiar"

"You got hold of the chip?" Torrin asked "The transport case wasn't tampered with"

"Actually . . ." Lathain began looking across at me

"Did you decode it?" Torrin asked

"Not a chance, couldn't break the fire wall" Lathain admitted, Torrin's face twisted, he didn't know whether to be impressed or disappointed "but now you can break the coding for us and I can have another shot" the elf grinned.

"We'll have to get into my lab" Torrin said "We should go tonight before the data from their test is fully analysed, just in case they catch wind of your attempted hack"

I looked to KC "We have to be in for curfew in about an hour, we'll break out after lights out and come find you" I said

"I'll walk you back" Torrin said getting up

"No need, besides it might look a bit weird if we arrive together" KC said shuffling out from under Kaden, I took that as the cue to leave, pulling at Mei-Juu's paws to detach him from my blazer and hand him back to Torrin.

"Fur ball is going to blow my cover" I mumbled "We'll leave you guys to hash out a plan, ping KC when you're done and let me know if you need a hand with infiltration" I tied my hair up in a chopstick to get it out of my face and picked up my satchel

"Later baby" KC blew kiss to Torrin who gave her a disapproving look; she laughed and followed me out.

"You shouldn't tease him" I told her as we headed down the elevator

"Why not?" she asked "like you said he's probably not interested" she lost her smile for a moment, looking frustrated. The doors pinged open and KC stepped through, she looked as though she had been about to say something when she stopped in her tracks, eyes looking out past the foyer

"What is it?" I asked instantly alert

"I could have sworn I just saw . . ." she trailed off then shook her head "never mind, must have been my imagination"

"What did you see?" I asked

KC pondered a moment then started walking again "well I thought for a moment that I saw Lathain up ahead, but he's still in the hotel room" I paused and grabbed KC's arm

"It might be the shifter" I told her, "the one from the Kabal" KC was suddenly tense "Which way?" she led and I followed checking all around as we went looking for signs of the man KC thought she had seen. "Do you remember what they were wearing?" I asked

KC shook her head "just a black suit, but so are a lot of guys out tonight" she noted, indeed a lot of business men were out on the streets making their way home, if it had been a Lathain imposter they were either long gone or in a new disguise "we should head back before curfew" KC reminded me. She hailed a cab.


	21. Chapter 21

Back at the dorms KC declared she would be getting some shut eye before we had to get up for our late night misdemeanors, she slipped into her room muttering a "goodnight" as she went.

I on the other hand had to contend with my room mate. A short blonde girl she was a little older than the other students, but not yet old enough to be called "mature". She certainly didn't behave like a mature student, she was already drunk by the time I got to my room and spent a good hour complaining loudly at the injustice of having to share a room when she had thus far been granted one all to herself. I couldn't blame her, I would have preferred to share with KC but we were lucky to get the rooms we were giving coming into the semester so late. I sat in silence at my tiny desk with books open pretending to study. A copy of the school map and a few photos of the doors KC had taken slipped between the pages so I could check out the security. For the doors with windows that I could see through that was simple enough, I could step through anything provided I knew where I was going, but the other doors would be trickier.

KC had wisely decided to take photographs which showed the college notice boards as well as the doors, that way if we'd been caught it would look like we were getting to know the school. I grew bored trying to figure out the door locks, some had key pads, others used fobs, and one looked like it was unlocked through retinal scan, pretty heavy stuff for a college campus. Instead I turned my attention to the notice boards in the photos as my roommate fell into a heavy, and loud, slumber.

It looked like the school was doing excellent work in the fields of computer research, some areas were historic, the recreation of old games and old software to learn about the history of computing, another board showed the school's achievement in languages, coming fifth worldwide in something called "Translation Trials" I briefly remembered during my flight school training that some of the extra curriculum groups had been centred around language, you weren't to use comm. software as it was considered cheating, but instead had to rely on brain power alone. Another board showed a trophy, the image too out of focus to read the tiny writing of the panel at the front, but there was a screen shot on the board showing a tall proud elf holding the trophy. The banner reading "School of Etiquette" I almost glossed over it to the next photo before something caught my eye.

I stopped dead

I rummaged through the photographs trying to find another shot of the blurred image, but nothing, I cursed softly. I brought out my palm pad and logged on to the college network, the screen reminding me that curfew was passed. Luckily the curfew seemed to only include being on the premises after an allocated time and the system still let me log on.

I looked up the School of Etiquette, an annual competition; the Neo Tokyo College had never won the event but came second last year when Ms Falkan had taught the class, it was Ms Falkan in the photo, holding the silver trophy high with a gracious smile. There was just one problem. That wasn't Falkan in the photo, it was Scathe.

"What do you want?" hissed KC as she opened the door, her hair dishevelled, wearing a short blue shift that barely concealed her lush curves. She looked at me up and down, dressed in sweats and an oversized t-shirt I was barefoot, I thrust the pad under her nose and pushed her inside, glancing across to her room mate's bed and pleased to see it was vacant, I shot her a questioning glance "the bint is out with her boy friend" she supplied, clearing her eyes to look blearily at the photo "What am I looking at?" she asked

"Do you recognise the elf in the photo?" I said, KC peered at the screen and shrugged

"Looks like Ms Perfect Tits to me" she said "we know she's connected with Engen and as such to the college, why is this important?" she yawned loudly and stretched

"This says Ms Falkan, not Elherin Farthro" I told her

"Maybe but if she's a runner she was probably using an alias" KC looked tired and confused

"Look closer" I told her, she did so, obviously struggling, I decided to put her out of her misery "the Elherin Farthro we were introduced to had brown eyes" I said "at least to start with, but later in the café in Vegas her eyes were green" my brain finally having caught up.

"Trick of the light?" KC suggested, I groaned, she looked too tired to keep up but I persevered

" _This_ woman has blue, and . . ." I paused and flicked the palm pad to the next screen to show the picture of a beautiful elven woman, platinum hair and deep green eyes, she was stunning

"Who is this?" KC asked

"That is the _real_ Elherin Farthro, and what's more she _died_ , over a year ago" I panned the screen to show the headline, the real Farthro had been shot to death outside her home, the killer had never been caught. KC was suddenly alert

"So if this is Elherin Farthro, and Scathe looks like this Falkan chick then who hired us?" she asked

"I'm more interested in the why" I told her

"So do you think its cosmetic surgery?" she asked looking between the photos

"More likely a shifter" I said

"The same one from the Kabal?" she asked "I thought that was a guy?"

"It was, but maybe there's more than one . . ." I trailed off, the answer suddenly hit me, the thoughts that had been trying to grab my attention since the café finally came into focus.

"What?" KC asked impatiently

"There's only one shifter!" I said excitedly "it's the same one, they can shift sex!"

KC didn't look convinced "shifters are stuck to their gender" she said "I thought that was common knowledge"

"Maybe they are for the most part" I said "but maybe some can shift however they want" I said "in the Kabal Eleanor said that the Ethan imposter was waiting for her in her room, but if her room was warded against men then . . ."

"Then the imposter had to be a _woman_ shifted to _look_ like a man" KC finished catching up "in order to get through the barrier"

"We were hired by the same shifter that probably tried to kill me in the Kabal" I said

"But we still don't know _why_ " KC pointed out

I sighed "At this point I don't really care the why, I'm more interested in letting the team know and getting out of here, let Lathain and Torrin know what we've . . ." my voice suddenly lost as my mind caught up. "Torrin" I said

"What?"

"It's Torrin" I said "It's all about Torrin, it _must_ be"

KC exasperated stopped me, I hadn't realised I'd been pacing "Chill for a second girl, what's about Torrin?"

" _Everything_ " I said "Don't you see, the attack on Clearwater was to drive him out of hiding, but that failed, they started to go after the people Torrin worked with to flush him out of hiding. They figured that if they could lure him out then they could crack the rest of Clearwater. The virus and chip were a means to peak his interest, bring runners out to find him; they knew if they attacked Clearwater openly then he would have to show himself. That's why they hired Lathain, he's an _associate_ , and if anyone was going to find Torrin it would be Lathain or me and . . ."

"Oh god" KC whispered "Ghost, we led them right to him" She scrabbled to her bedside pushing aside her makeup cleaner and book, almost knocking the lamp from the bedside "Damn!" she hissed

"What?" I asked

"My comm. unit" she said looking at me wide eyed "thieving cow of a roommate must have taken it, it's gone"

"We need to tell the guys" I said "we have to warn them"

"Does that pad of yours let you access communications?" she asked. I was already flicking through the menu, the comm. button greyed out. I hit the button anyway but the curfew message appeared

"Locked out" I said. KC meanwhile was throwing on jeans and some shoes; she pulled a pistol from beneath the bed sheet. Grateful that it too had not been taken or tampered with.

"We're leaving" she said throwing me a pair of boots "we need to find a comm. and quickly" she pointed to the closet

"There's another gun on the top shelf" she said as she searched under the bed for more ammunition, I opened the closet and bit back a scream as a body slumped towards me hitting the ground as I jumped back. Dead lifeless eyes look into nothingness

"Is that?"

"My roommate" KC said "guess I know who really took my comm." she muttered, leaning down to push the dead girl's eyes closed "let's go"


	22. Chapter 22

We raced down the stairs, meeting no one as we went, KC tried several doors to offices to hack the comm. links but no luck, and it seemed that access to external communications wasn't just limited to students after hours.

"This is stupid" I told her, "we need to get a message to the rest of the team" I checked a corridor that lead to the outside before heading down it "We'd have better luck finding an active comm. if we split up" I told her "I'll take the research wing and see if they haven't already arrived, you head off campus, try and grab a cab to their hotel"

"There's a coffee shop around the corner" she said "they probably have a comm. unit I could use"

"Even better" I said "So what is the new plan?" I mused aloud checking the door to find it mercifully unlocked and not alarmed

"How about we break out of here sharpish" KC muttered "though you might want to steal the chip on your way out, if they don't have then they can't use it later"

"Good idea but I'll need Lathain to wipe their systems to be sure they lose any data on the project" I told her "or we'll be back here in a few months doing it all again" we pulled into the shadow of a tree as a night guard wandered past, his portly gait slow and steady, he hadn't seen or heard us, but I doubted he'd catch us even if he had

"If you can't hack it then burn it" KC said "use your magic juice to burn the system, overload it or something" she had a point

"Not a bad idea" I agreed "right, I'm off, hopefully I'll see you soon, and if the guys aren't there I'll head back to the coffee shop and meet you there"

"If you're not there in half an hour I'm coming back for you" she promised

I gave her an appreciative nod and headed in the direction the guard had gone.

The campus was eerily quiet at night; I had always assumed that college was a place for partying and drinking. It certainly seemed that way in the States, but in Japan there was much more store placed in order and tranquillity. I padded as quickly and as lightly as I was able across campus to the labs. There were a few lights on meaning that researchers might be in the building. At the front of the building a large black Range Rover sat. The licence new and the vehicle was spotless, obviously the latest model. I took a quick glance inside but saw no one, the seats empty. I didn't recall Tor having a Rover when he met up with us earlier, but it might belong to him.

I veiled myself quickly and walked through the door, not bothering to open it, if the doors were alarmed then I didn't want to inadvertently trigger them. I moved down the corridors checking the lab windows as I went, ahead I heard voices and slowed.

". . . shouldn't be too much longer Patrick" Tor's voice said "I'll give you a shout when I'm done, then you can lock up"

"No problem Dr T" an unfamiliar voice said. A guard moved from the doorway of a room and started to wander down the corridor; I saw the door start to close behind him and rushed to get inside before I would be locked outside, in my haste I nearly bumped into the guard, my shoulder lightly brushing past his overly large coat causing him to pause. He looked around but saw nothing, in that moment I managed to slide through the doorway.

The lab I had entered was large and there was a constant sound of humming of electrics. Over a dozen screens showed lists of figures rapidly running, Torrin sat at one of these screens. Behind me the door clicked shut.

I moved closer before Torrin pulled a pistol from his belt

"You'd better show yourself" he said to the air "I might not be able to see you but these are wide spread bullets, I'll damn well hit _something_ " I dropped my spell and he sighed, lowering the weapon "I could have shot you" he said "Lathain?" he called out

To my left Lathain opened a cupboard door and stepped out, a quick hiding place for when the guard had turned up "What's wrong?" Lathain asked

"I think our employer is in on this" I said Lathain looked puzzled so I filled him in as quickly as I could. "KC has gone looking for a comm. link, she'll probably be in touch any second" I told him

"So this Scathe person" Torrin began "you believe she was at the Kabal with you?" he asked

"Yeah, I think she was trying to get close to me, I think she's the one that poisoned Kalin and if she were posing as Whisperer for a while then it might explain why Hastings was so quick to be targeted"

"If she's as skilled a shifter as you claim then we'll have to assume she can infiltrate the group" Lathain said "Which means we can't trust anyone" he looked concerned and frowned "How do we know none of us are this shifter chick?"

Torrin growled at the implied accusation "Forget that for now" he said with a snarl "We need to wipe the virus data first, if we do that then we can work out who the bad guys are later" Torrin began typing away on the keypad "Lathain are you going to jack in and help or what?" he asked. Lathain paled

"What? Jack-in so one of you can assassinate me?" he said back pedalling "Hell no, when I'm immersed my body is defenceless, you can jack-in, besides it's your programme" he looked quickly at me trying to look for support.

"If we can't agree then I'll just fry the lot" I said stepping forward, the electricity flowing over my arms. Torrin stood to step aside, just in that moment his comm. beeped

"What?" he growled "yeah she's here with me and Lathain" he said "We're . . ." he held up a hand to stop me and I paused "Say that _again_ " the room fell silent making the sound of the gun hammer echo around the walls. I turned slowly to find Lathain pointing not one gun, but two. One at me and one at Torrin.

"Ghost if you would be a dear and step away from the console, and if you two could both just step away from each other" he said. A cold heavy feeling fell in my stomach "I know what you're thinking" Scathe said "You're wondering if you can hit me with that spell of yours" before me the green eyes of Lathain gave way to brown ones flecked with yellow, the platinum hair grew longer and turned a dark orange and the fair skin turned a dark purple. The ears shortened and the arms grew thin and spindly. "I wouldn't recommend it, I'm likely to pull the trigger in reflex and hit at least one of you" Lathain's voice died away to a more feminine drawl, the tall physique shortened and curves replaced muscle, even the clothing fell away to be replaced by a simple skirt and blouse. She gave a low whistle and five men entered the room, all armed and all prepared to fire. Damn.

Beside me Torrin growled and sharply pulled the comm. unit from his ear, the sound of static and high pitched interference filled the room. The five men surrounded us and I knew it was no use. I let the spell die, dropping the pistol in my hand and kicking it over.

"There's a good girl" Scathe purred "I must say it was hard tracking you down, had I known who you were in the Kabal it would have saved me an awful lot of trouble, I've only really put the pieces together just now, how fortunate for me that I catch not one target, but two" she said, two men moved forward to tie our hands behind our backs; the zip ties digging in to my wrists enough to draw blood

"What do you want?" Torrin growled

"Oh I only want to get paid" Scathe said holstering her weapons, her comm. beeped and she smiled "Oh Sylo dear" my blood ran cold "There's someone here to see you"

She looked to the doorway and I broke out into a sweat. There was the sound of footsteps and the clink of a metal cane on the tiled floors then stood in the doorway was the silhouette of a man I knew all too well, the image burned into my nightmares since I had been six years old

 _He has only hurt on his mind_

Kalin's warning rang loud in my head

 _Run, run where he cannot find you_

But it was too late, he _had_ found me. I was caught and there was nowhere that I could hide, nowhere I could run. He stepped into the room, his long coat brushing against the benches as he passed; he regarded me with his mechanical eye. He looked older than I remembered with his hair now grey but his remaining human eye was no less cold, no less forgiving. If anything it looked more terrifying. Against my will my legs trembled and my mouth went dry, my mind only marginally aware that the scars on my body were glowing.

"Hello Sylo"


	23. Chapter 23

"The chopper will be here in a few minute sir" Scathe said with a smile "It'll take off from the roof, shall we make a move?" My step father move his gaze away from me a moment to nod at her. The guards stepped forward pulling Torrin up from his seat and pushing him to walk in front. One of the guards made the stupid move of grabbing my arm. The electricity snaked from me to him and he seized up, his eyes went wide and he started to foam at the mouth making a strangling noise. His comrades pulled their rifles on me waiting, none attempted to help him. His skin blistered and he let go. The body dropped to the ground and moved no more.

"Most interesting" My step father said with a smile, he turned and walked out of the door. Torrin being led shortly behind, pointed rifles were my cue to follow as I stepped over the dead man. Already my nerves had me charged, the scars glowing brightly again.

"Don't get any bright ideas" Scathe said to me as we were led upstairs. I tried to steady my calm; _oh I was having ideas alright_. If I could just get close enough my step father, maybe my spell would hit him, maybe I could _kill_ him.

We climbed the stairs to the roof, outside in the dark there was only the slightest breeze, the roof lit only by a single spotlight. I was forced to stand next to Torrin, I had hoped to be set apart so releasing my spell wouldn't hurt him. Torrin caught the look on my face and shook his head

"Don't do it Ghost" he warned "You're not a killer" he said

"But _you_ are" My step father said turning to face us " _You've_ killed plenty haven't you?" he said with a smile "Oh how the King has fallen" he laughed, I winced at the memory of that laugh, it cut at me like a physical pain "You really thought you'd won" he said with a sneer "And you almost did but for one problem" He leaned closer, staring at Torrin with his eye that spun, the red glow behind the lens like a knife cutting into everything it saw.

"And what problem is that?" growled Torrin, meeting my step-father's eyes with a rage I had never seen in him. Behind me Scathe muttered to her guards and one of them disappeared back into the building the way we had come

"You forgot who you were dealing with" My step father said with another laugh. "Do you know I spent so much of my time looking Sylo that in reality all I had to do was find you and you would lead me right to her?" he said

"I did no such thing" Torrin growled

"No indeed you did your best trying to hide away, but your hand isn't as strong as it used to be is it?" he taunted "The great King of Diamonds now has no cards left to play"

 _King of Diamonds?_ I looked at Torrin, eyes wide, he was an affiliate? When? Had Whisperer recruited him? Torrin didn't look at me; my Step father however had noticed my surprise. He laughed.

"She doesn't know" he said snapping his cane into the ground "Oh this is _beautiful_ " he turned to look at me "You should see your face child" he laughed "indeed the creature has been keeping secrets from you this entire time, he's a criminal Sylo" now it was my turn to growl

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" I spat, he laughed, cold and cruel

"Why?" he said "Why? Because I made you, because I put in so much effort into creating you" he said "You think the power you have comes from some deep genetic spark? No! I made you what you are" I shuddered

"You did no such thing!" Torrin shouted taking a menacing step forward. My step father snarled and rammed his cane into Torrin's chest knocking the wind out of him.

"I think you'll find that I did" he said, he gave Torrin a slight smile "Though I should thank you, you filled in the missing piece for me" he said with a smile "I honestly thought I had missed it, something I had overlooked, but then you showed me what I needed, gave her what she needed"

"You're not making any sense" I cried, he back handed me and I fell to the floor, the taste of blood in my mouth, Torrin growled and tried to rise until I heard the click of a hammer. A pistol pointed at Torrin's face.

"Pharmatech" He said "That's when I knew you weren't a complete failure" he said, he leaned in to Torrin's ear "Tell me oh great King, have you ever heard of the power of a broken soul?" he glanced down at me "Its an old Buddhist myth, some say it's that only a broken soul can heal another, but that's only the surface of it, only a broken soul has the power to kill with unprecedented destruction" he laughed, in the distance the sound of a chopper could be heard.

"That's bull and you know it" Torrin snarled, my Step Father tutted

"The human body is a barrier" he said "the soul is contained within it, when a soul breaks it cracks the surface, and breaks the barrier of the body. All that power on the inside is now able to escape, no resistance, nothing to keep it in. In a normal human this looks devastating enough, but in an awakened . . ." he leered at me and Torrin's face paled

"Pharmatech. . . the fall out spell . . ." Torrin muttered "you did this to her?!" he shouted trying to stand, again the cane was knocked into his chest causing him to fall "You're a bastard" he spat

"Call me what you will" my Step Father replied "In order to harness that power I had to break a soul, and they say it's best to start young" my heart cracked and tears began to fall. The pieces fitting into place "You need to have someone know real fear" he continued "fear of losing someone, fear of being returned to someone" he laughed "You know the irony is that if she had stayed with me she might never have known the brief spark of hope, the spark that can now be so brutally snuffed out"

Everything he had done, my whole life, the pain, the torture. They had all been to break me, to increase my powers so that he could control me.

"You were going to use her as a weapon" Torrin said "I can't allow it, I _wont_ allow it"

"Not only can't you stop me, but you are the key, if I am to break her that sparks needs to be snuffed out and her symbol of hope needs to be destroyed" he levelled the gun at Torrin's face "I wonder _your majesty_ , if you die because of someone else's belief, does that still make _you_ the martyr?"

The sound of the chopper was louder now, the small unit visible over the tree line heading for the roof we stood upon. The wind it kicked up blew my hair into my eyes, near blinding me,I tried to focus on the spell , on my charge. But fear routed me to the spot, I was helpless unable to move, only to watch.

"Any last words?"

Torrin looked at me, my pain mirrored on his face

"Ghost I . . ." then my step-father pulled the trigger.

I screamed.


	24. Chapter 24

Some hours earlier . . .

The girls had left the hotel, Torrin not far behind, if he didn't keep up the pretence of his tutorship then someone might start asking questions. So that left the rest of us to work out how we were going to destroy this chip. I sighed, technomancy was not my forte, I had a whole suit of cards that were specialists so that I didn't have to be, and they were all too far away to help now. Well mostly a whole suit, I thought to myself, a few of the slots were empty, the King's position still vacant, those in the lower positions not wanting to step up and take the seat. No-one had.

I had spent many nights wondering why the King places of the deck had never been taken, the Affiliate had been running under the Joker for years, but no-one, not one person had ever taken the King seat in any suit. Did they know who they were? It was an older member of the Affiliate who had led me to Torrin, possibly the only card left from when Torrin and his team had been the lead. It had taken long enough to find _him_. I could guess that Doc and Amm were likely the Kings of Hearts and Spades respectively, and I knew the King of Clubs had been dead for almost four years now.

The general belief amongst the cards were that the seats were either bad luck, or were not in fact empty. Certainly aside from the Clubs the cards they held remained active, so the Affiliate knew they were not dead, maybe they assumed they would come back? I shook my head to myself, my conversation with Torrin told me that it would be a cold, cold day in hell before he took up his old post.

" . . . listening?" a voice reached out to me pulling from my thoughts

"Sorry what?" I said, Lathain frowned at me

"I said, did you want to come with me and Tor or go with Penumbra?" Lathain repeated "The power supplies need to be cut to knock out the rest of the security software, that way I only have to deal with one set of fire walls" I shrugged

"In all honesty I'm better off breaking things than hacking" I told him "I'll go with Penumbra, keep the team even in case we run into trouble" the bird troll nodded in agreement

"Then it is settled" Penumbra's voice boomed "Once we cut the power we will raise an alarm in another building to buy you some time" he folded his great arms, the leather of his jacket strained against his muscles "We will await your signal. Joker I have need of your knife, the blade is the length I need for the operation" I pulled my combat knife from my boot, flipped it in my hand and passed it handle first to the troll who took it gently

"You know only the cards call me Joker" I said "I would prefer Whisperer" I shrugged "Or Jenson" Penumbra nodded, Lathain hid a smirk

"You know I just call him Captain Caveman" Lathain said "but only when he's not around" he nudged Penumbra in the ribs jovially, I laughed

"Well your resignation wasn't officially registered so you _should_ probably call me Joker" I said coolly. Lathain went rigid, the tips of his ears turning red

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully, he was tense, Penumbra sensed the change immediately and raised a brow, he looked from me to Lathain

"I will be getting some air" he said standing up straight "Do not kill each other, we have a job to do" he said curtly before leaving.

"What do you mean?" Lathain repeated as the door clicked closed

"I'm talking about the Seven of Diamonds" I said, "though really you should be much higher up" I sat forward in my seat and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl "That _is_ in fact why the drake in Chicago was after you wasn't it? Because you defected?" Lathain's brow twitched

"You have no idea . . ." he began

"Oh actually I do, perks of being the man on top is I have access to the files that people think were long ago destroyed, nice job by the way, it took a lot of digging to find out all the info" I said taking a bite "And I don't expect you to come back, you left for very good reasons"

"I wasn't going to be a part of _that_ " he said, his green eyes lit up with a spark, his fists clenched

"No, I agree" I said smoothly "No-one else knows of course" I said "though the Kings have had their suspicions for a while, even before Chicago"

"You know who the Kings are?" Lathain looked at me in disbelief

I nodded "As do you in fact" I said, Lathain's face twisted in thought, he didn't believe me, but he would figure it out eventually

"You said no-one else knows?" Lathain asked after a moment

"And they don't have to" I said "Though if you ever do decide to take on a role I have it on good authority the King's throne is open, he has no desire for it, not anymore"

Lathain's stern face began to crack at the edges, a glean of mischief hinted in his eye before he gave in and laughed "This is your style of recruitment?" he said breaking out into a grin "man that's the suckiest pick up I've ever heard" he laughed, I laughed a little too.

"Just because I know doesn't mean you need to change anything" I told him, being serious again "I'm telling you what I know out of respect, I don't want secrets between us" Lathain stopped laughing long enough to give me his signature 'ladies' smile

"Whisperer, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to hit on me" he said "Really what would Ghost think if she knew what you were saying 'I don't want any secrets between us' sounds very much like a chic flick moment to me"

"You're probably right" I conceded, my face fell as I remembered how Ghost had yelled at me, _they can't touch me and neither can you_ , she had said. Had I pushed things too far?

Lathain regarded me for a moment "Do you want to know what I find so strange?" he said picking up an apple from the fruit bowl "You don't want to keep secrets from me, but you'll keep them from Ghost" he said

"She has her own secrets" I murmured

"True, but they're just the little secrets" Lathain said "You don't talk about the _big_ secrets"

"I know who she really is if that's what you mean" I said, beginning to feel confused at the way this conversation was turning. Lathain spun the apple on it's stem and laughed "I take it then that you know too?" I asked, I had guessed as much, whenever something came up about Ghost's past Lathain was keen to watch her, his eyes always met hers as if they were talking to each other with a glance.

"I've known for a while" Lathain said "but that's not why I'm laughing, I laugh because you think her past is her big secret. I'm not saying its not a _significant_ part of her life, I'm just saying it's not that big of a deal" _not that big of a deal_ I thought _it certainly seemed to be a pretty big deal_ Lathain looked at me carefully and I got the sense that he was looking at me with more than just his eyes "Let me ask you in another way then, what is her real name?"

"Sylo Corden" I said automatically

"Ah err!" Lathain said loudly, his voice sounding like an old style game buzzer "Wrong answer" Now I was confused "Try again"

I paused trying to think, Sylo _was_ her real name, her birth name it was on her birth certificate, her school records, medical records, even her death certificate was under Sylo Corden. . . then I remembered the aerospace award on the wall of her apartment

"Evelyn Xanders" I said "the name she uses since she started to live with Torrin because by rights Sylo Corden is dead, at least on paper" Lathain laughed at me again "What?" I asked not really liking this game anymore

"Ghost" Lathain said simply "Her real name is Ghost" I stared at him blankly, he sighed and took a bite of the apple. "Honestly, you're supposed to be this know-it-all king of everything but you don't know this?" he looked at me "These are the big secrets that everyone hides, not who we _were_ or where we're from, it's who we _are_ , what we love, our names, our hearts and the people we love" he said "Think about it, when she introduces herself she calls herself Ghost, she never uses Xanders unless she's on a job, Xanders is her _runner_ name, not the other way around. She isn't Sylo Corden, she hasn't been Sylo for _years_. Ghost is who she is, it's the part of her that only the closest people know" my mind thought over this, much as I hated to admit the elf was making sense

"I never thought of it like that" I admitted "You assume that a name like Ghost can only be a runner name"

"It's only the start" Lathain said "So you know who she _was,_ but ask yourself this. _Does it matter_?"

"No" the word was out of my mouth before I could stop it, on autopilot. Lathain grinned at me triumphantly

"Then stop wasting time on the little secrets, start working on the big ones, start by telling her how you feel, after that it'll all be so much easier"

"How I feel? . . ." I began, Lathain cut me off with a look that told me he wasn't going to have _that_ conversation with me, I sighed "The big secrets huh?" I said

Lathain nodded "Tell her that you've fallen in love with her, and that she is obviously in love with you and that you should stop fighting it already, then I don't know go off and make babies or something" he said waving his hand dismissively. I laughed

"If you can see then it's not exactly a secret is it" I said with a smirk

"The big secrets are the ones we hide from ourselves" Lathain said solemnly

"Did you swallow a box of fortune cookies?" I asked with a laugh, though laugh as I might I couldn't dispute it, he was right. He gave me a knowing look smirked and leaned back into the sofa pulling his over his head to link his hands together. He stretched lazily, reminding me of a cat "so tell me Storm, how did you get so wise?"

He grinned at me "It's hard to be wrong when you're the chosen one" he said, I laughed and threw my apple core at him. At that moment Torrin pinged to let us know that the college was closing down for the evening. Lathain stood, throwing both apple cores neatly into the bin by the door "I'll meet up with Tor and we'll wait for the best time to sneak in, we can use Tor's pass for the first part easy enough, but we'll let you know when we're jacking in so you can pull the power" he said, he turned to go and paused, levelling his eyes at me "Oh and if you hurt her . . ." he began I held up my hand before he could continue

"There'll be a queue I'm sure" I said


	25. Chapter 25

Penumbra and I waited in a small café just on the outskirts of the college grounds, Lathain had looped back around to meet up with Torrin in the Science labs. From here we had a clear view of the small enclosed yard that controlled the college power. There was a single guard stationed outside the small gate, along with two security cameras, all in all this would be pretty simple.

Lathain had reckoned about ten minutes to get from the café to the lab, and another ten to fifteen minutes to prep everything at their side so they could hack and withdraw in the twenty second window they had before the back up power kicked in. If this went badly then it would be up to me and Penumbra to make a little noise . . .

"Coffee, black" I said sliding over some change. The young lad behind the counter glanced across at Penumbra, a little wary and nervous, but then anyone would be "he'll have a milk" I said. The boy's eyebrows rose and he looked at me, he was probably thinking it was a joke. "It keeps his bones in good condition" I said with a smile. The boy nodded wordlessly and moved to gather drinks. I went to sit opposite Penumbra who was watching the window

"Milk?" he asked me in a surprisingly soft whisper

"Just fucking with the boy" I said with a grin

"You look like Lathain when you smile like that" he said, I dropped my smile and he laughed "just fucking with you" he said. Suddenly his eyes moved to the window and his body tensed "Someone is coming" he said rising to his feet "and they are in a hurry"

I turned to stand just in time to see the form of KC sprinting down the path, pistol in hand, dressed in jeans and a night gown, she looked like she had gotten out of bed in a hurry. She saw us as she approached the café, her face obviously pleased to see us.

"Good you're here" she panted looking around "Where's Tor and Big Ears?" she asked

"Lathain went to meet up with Tor about ten minutes ago" I said, KC's face crumpled

"Balls" she said and coughed in the way only a smoker can, I waited until she could breathe again before asking her the problem. "It's the shifter" KC said "the shifter is Scathe, she can transform into anyone" I frowned

"Are you sure?" I asked KC nodded and coughed again

"She's been on to us from the start, she was at the Kabal, she killed my roommate and earlier I could have sworn I saw another person that looked like Lathain" she said "Ghost has gone to the lab to try and see if you were there already, bitch took my comm. unit" she said "She could be anyone of us" her breathing almost back to a measure of calm she straightened up and cocked her pistol

I buzzed Lathain, the cheeky smile filled the small screen "Are you with Tor yet?" I asked

"Sure, been here nearly five whole minutes" he said "Why?" I explained the situation and he frowned "I'll keep an eye on _everyone_ " he said giving me a knowing look, his head turned out of view a moment "Gotta go" he said "I think a guard is coming, Tor's the only one who has a pass to be here" _figures_ , I thought and let him go.

"We should meet up with them" Penumbra suggested "If the shifter is here then there is no guarantee the plan will work so I say we abandon it. I would rather we destroy the lab entirely"

"I'm game" KC said "If there's no lab then there's no chip" she was already walking swiftly in the direction of the science building

"There'll likely be a back up" I told her catching up

"Yeah well we'll just have to break that too" she said, she eyed my holsters "you got any other weapons?" she asked "I wasn't allowed to pack much for my dorm" she grumbled. I handed her a knife and one of my Lugar pistols

"Do _not_ lose that" I told her as I gave her the gun, she grinned wickedly and she checked the magazine.

"If the shifter can be anyone then how do you know that KC is not the shifter?" Penumbra asked, KC ignored him

"Because" I said with a smile "only KC can look that happy holding a gun" she grinned at me. We could see the science building in the gloom of the night, passing through the open courtyard we kept our eyes out for guards. KC was out in front. Penumbra at the back, his massive bow in his hands with an arrow ready to draw if needed.

Suddenly KC stopped and held up a hand. I drew my pistol and cocked the hammer as we moved slightly to the side using the few sparse trees for cover. KC motioned in front by the doorway of the art building, lying at the base of the steps was a figure, he didn't look to be conscious.

I moved closer, using the shadows as I needed them until I reached the figure, rolling him over Lathain groaned, barely conscious.

"Shit" KC muttered as she got closer, she looked to Penumbra who dialled up Torrin

"Tor do you have Ghost with you" his deep voice boomed as I tried to shake Lathain awake "Lathain is with us" he said "I said Lathain is. . ." at that he growled, clawed hands clenched "The line just went dead" he said "Static"

"They're using a jamming signal then" KC said, beside her Lathain groaned again and his eyes blinked open slowly

"Do I need to even ask what happened?" I said looking down at him, he sat bolt upright and swung his fist at me, luckily he was still not fully orientated and the blow grazed harmlessly off my shoulder

"Bastard" he spat, his head lolling to the side, his eyes unfocused

"I think _you_ happened" KC said, she pulled Lathain up to sit on the steps of the art building where she could see him a little better "It's not Whisperer" she told him "The person that hit you was the shifter" she said, she looked at me "She hit him hard too, do you have a stim patch?" she asked. Penumbra delved into one of his jacket pockets and brought out a small square patch, she peeled off the back and slapped it on his arm with probably more force than was necessary dragging him up to his feet.

"I was thinking the same thing" I said anxious to get moving, Ghost was in trouble, Torrin too. Penumbra supported Lathain as we made our way as quickly across campus as we were able, the elf soon finding his feet if still a little shaky. We arrived just in front of the science building as a chopper appeared overhead.

"Looks like they're on the roof" KC said "We'll need to be quick"

"I'm right behind you" I said, then I heard the unmistakeable sound of a gun shot and looked up just as the roof exploded.


	26. Chapter 26

The blast was unlike anything I had ever seen and stopped me in my tracks, KC too looked up. The explosion burst out in one huge white wave of brilliant light. It hit the descending chopper throwing it out over the roof. The chopper's whirling blades tilted and cut into the building's roof breaking apart and sending metal debris in every direction.

"Oh no" Lathain behind me was suddenly very much awake, his eyes wide in a way only terror can make them.

KC was the first to break from the spell and start running, I took off after her hitting the door fractionally before she did, she pointed the way and we sprinted up the stairs. Lathain close behind with Penumbra. The building shook and we stumbled on the stairs, lucky not to go over the banisters to the ground floor. KC looked about for the roof access and took off after it.

The ascent seemed so painfully slow, like in a nightmare where you know you are running with all your might and yet the world around you is moving so slowly that you feel like you are running through treacle. We hit the roof as one unit, bursting through the door KC tripped over the body of a guard and hit the ground rolling. She was up in a second, pistol pointed out over the roof.

It was carnage. A brilliant blinding white light came from the centre of the roof, waves of energy threw out, bending the legs of the water tower and throwing the rest of the chopper out from the roof in one huge fireball to the ground below. The light so bright I could barely see. A figure rushed me, knocking me over, I turned thinking I was being attacked, it was a guard. But he wasn't interested in me.

White with terror he lunged past us towards the door. Penumbra grabbed him before he could escape and hauled him up to look at him. The man screamed and flailed caught in pure and unadulterated fear. Just then a shock wave hit that knocked all of us from our feet. The man scrabbled to his feet before Penumbra could catch him again and he disappeared down the stairs.

"Whisperer!" KC shouted over the roar of the waves, she pointed out in front where a figure crawled on the floor towards us. The slender figure and long hair had me up and running, I slid along the floor until I was beside her and tried to pull her up.

The side of Ghost's face was burnt horribly and she was covered in blood, the bone of her jaw exposed, it was all I could do to not throw up at the sight. I heard Lathain calling me as another wave hit. I rolled over Ghost to protect her. The force of the blast caused a roof panel to come undone and fly over my head, any closer and it could have taken it clean off.

I looked up and saw Lathain as he pulled the trigger, Ghost's body bucked beneath my hands as KC charged Lathain knocking him to the ground. I looked down in panic. Blood pouring from Ghost's chest, I cried out and pressed my hands against the wound to stop the bleeding.

"It's not her!" Lathain shouted "KC _stop it_ , it's not Ghost!" I looked up, panic and rage all swept into one. Lathain had KC at arms length having removed her pistol. He looked down at me "For the love of god Whisperer!" he shouted over the roar " _That_ is Ghost!" he pointed with his pistol to the epicentre of the blasts. At that moment another blast hit out over the roof. Instinctively I tried to protect the dying woman in my arms, only this time when I looked down the dark hair was changing colour, the freckled skin darkening to a deep purple. I dropped the body of the shifter I had been cradling and back peddalled away in shock and disgust. In the corner of my vision I was briefly aware that Penumbra had taken a hit by debris and was bleeding heavily from the shoulder.

"What happened to her?" KC shouted to Lathain over the din

"She's gone beserk" Lathain replied "I've seen this before" his eyes were out over the roof, straining against the brightness, looking for something. A blast hit out again and I pulled up a magic barrier to protect myself from the debris. KC was not so lucky, scrap metal hit her across the face and her neck twisted sharply. She dropped to the ground, Lathain rushed to her side.

"Lathain!" Penumbra called out over the noise, he was dragging something towards him, turning his back against the waves of energy to protect the body that he held "Torrin!" he shouted over. I could just see the limp form of the Orc held in the troll's claws. In front of me the light that until now had been so bright began to dim.

Not dim, I corrected it began to _focus_.

"That's the trigger" Lathain shouted "She's gone, there's no way to stop her now" he said, his face fell and he looked at me fear in his green eyes "We're all going to die"

In front of me Ghost's form became visible, the light bending and turning until she stood in the centre of the waves. A blast erupted outwards, and she was the core. The blast hot and fiery energy. She looked out over the roof, her eyes fixed on something. Then she screamed.


	27. Chapter 27

She was gone, no longer there, her mind had fallen into some hell dimension where I had no hope to follow. The air was so hot now, burning ash being dragged into my labouring lungs with every breath. I heard her scream again, the pitch high, breaking my heart as though it were glass, and the shock waves just kept coming, one powerful blast after another shook the ground, sending a rising KC and Lathain back to their knees, KC clung to Lathain desperately as another wave hit them and pushed them backwards. The elf determined to stop them both falling from the edge of the building had dug a knife into the concrete tiles, holding on to them both for their very lives. On the other side of the rooftop by what was left of the door I saw Penumbra trying to shield Torrin's body from the blasts, his back poured blood and his feathers were burning in the heat, my own barrier spell was fading fast, soon I too would have no choice but to cling as hopelessly as my friends.

Before me the raging phoenix broke out a cry once more, _lost,_ she was so lost. Lightning arched around her, lighting the very air into a fire storm, her eyes that had once been the reminder of all things green and bright and new were now twisted, darkened into black lifeless orbs that saw only one thing.

Her Prey.

The creature on his knees before her cried out all apologies, lost in the sound of the inferno, he begged her, pleaded with her, fear was all he knew, fear and pain as his flesh began to burn, she stepped ever closer to him as he shuffled back, one leg dragged along broken. The metal of his comm. link began to melt and burn white and he screamed.

"Whisperer!" I heard the shout of Lathain, his arms tight around a now unconscious KC he was desperate, there were tears in his eyes, blood pooled from him, his or KC's I had no idea, he had knowledge enough to stop the bleeding, but his grip on KC meant she would be the cost of it, the beautiful brunette, now limp and lifeless, frail now in those arms. "You have to save her!" he shouted, another blast hit the roof, cracking my barrier, one more and it would be gone.

"She's gone Lathain!" I shouted back "No one can reach her now!" I dodged a metal bar as it was flung from the roof.

"Try!" he begged me

The fire grew brighter still, the clothes around Ghost erupted into flame, the rising air twisting her hair upwards, she was glowing hot and white, arcs of lightning riding over her body weaving to clothe her in a dress of white flame, her dyed dark hair now white as her skin. Barefoot she stepped gracefully ever closer to the man on the ground. She was gone, there was nothing left of her, nothing, she had been consumed by the monster inside of her.

 _Beware the monster inside_

Kalin's words shook me. He had seen this; he had seen the darkness that would consume her. I looked to Lathain once more, bracing myself I moved, racing across the rooftop, the sensation painfully slow, worse still was the scene that hit then in slow motion, with the highest clarity my eyes took in the next blast wave to erupt from Ghost. The water tower began it's fall, metal buckling, white hot from the heat, splintering to send shards in all directions like bullets, the blast hit my barrier, breaking it and sending my still moving legs from under me, I hit the ground, sliding to the edge, catching an open grate as a lip, to my right I saw Lathain's knife snap as the blast hit them, he screamed with pain as even above the noise I heard the sound of bone snapping. Their anchor gone they started to slide, and I was too far away.

So slowly did they appear to hit the edge, Lathain still holding close KC in his one strong arm. Broken and desperate fingers found a hold for a split second, that moment was all he needed to nod to me in thanks before both he and KC were thrown from the edge. Damn elf never could let go of anything he wanted, by holding on to KC he had sacrificed himself, noble bastard had hidden that side to him from me, now I felt the fool, he had risked everything to save one person.

And now it was my turn to do the same.

I numbly cast a second barrier, it wasn't much and would not hold long, but it allowed me to haul myself to my feet, the ground beneath my feet began to melt in the heat, tar and concrete fumes now mixing with the ash. Steam rose from the floor as the water from the tower splashed heavily and spread over the roof. Penumbra was now no-where to be seen, had he also beenpushed from the roof? I shook my head to try and clear it with little luck. This time I did not glance around me, but focused solely on what lay ahead.

Ghost

The beautiful shadow that had found her way into my heart, my mind flashed images as I stepped towards her, body braced against the shock waves, and each step gave a new image; her sly smile on our first meeting, the deep green of her eyes, the movement of her body as she drew her knives, her fragile laugh. Stepping ever closer the images grew brighter, the light playing in her crimson hair, the spray of water as she danced beneath fountains, the deep smell of a rainforest and the feather touch of her lips. She was Ghost, she was a runner, _no_ , she was a _fighter_ , she was everything that made the world right, gentle, courageous, true to her heart and she was merciful, and that made her beautiful to me, she had _mercy_!

"Ghost!" I shouted "Ghost, stop, please!" I called desperately "Please!" She noticed me not. Every step I took towards her she took a step towards her goal, towards the man who had created her. No, I thought, this was man who had _destroyed_ her, a man so cold could never have created the beautiful maiden who hunted him, he had tried to destroy her very soul and she had survived it, now though he would break her completely.

The man writhed on the floor, his screams made my stomach buckle, but I could not turn my eyes away from the sight, blood poured from his eyes, evaporating the moisture almost immediately it boiled on his skin, still she stepped ever closer. She would kill him like this, she would watch him die, slow and painful, and she would then destroy herself and there it was, that determination to wipe him out completely. The water reached Ghost's feet causing steam to blur my vision for a moment, I heard another pathetic scream and the twist of metal. I did then the only thing that I could do.

I cast a spell.

The mana bolt hit its target square in the broken face, the force snapping back the head to break the neck, the crack audible even over the roar of arcane fire. The screaming died instantly and the body dropped limp.

Her reaction was instantaneous; she screamed in rage, those black eyes locking onto mine, her new target found she strode forward, graceful even in her rage she stormed towards me. The fire grew hotter still, it was all I could do to stay conscious, the clothes on my body burned, my skin hot enough that I thought it would catch fire any moment, but I could not take my eyes from her. She raised a hand and back handed me across the face knocking me to the ground.

 _How dare you!_ The air vibrated around me, her lips did not move, but I heard the words clearly in my mind. _How dare you kill what was MINE to destroy! What gives you the right?!_ She commanded of me, bending at the knee she lifted me to mine to stare down into my eyes, my collar where she held it smouldered in the heat. She threw me down, easily, as if I weighed nothing, then drew me back onto my knees again, I tasted blood, head swimming _What gives you the right to take my prey from me?_ she demanded _Have you any idea how_ LONG _I have waited to kill that creature?_ She threw me down again, pain exploding everywhere _do you know how long I have waited? How much he made me suffer?! And then_ YOU! _You come and take my revenge from me!_

My head still swimming and barely conscious I opened my eyes to meet her black gaze, her face was twisted by hate, she grabbed me by the throat, pulling my face to hers _You will die for this betrayal_ she whispered into my mind. My skin burning, the pain intense I could not speak, so tight was the grip from her hand on my throat

 _I'm sorry_ I thought then watched her eyes grow wide as my hidden knife buried itself in her chest, her eyes began to dull and the intensity of the flames began to lessen, the twisted look of hatred fell from her face and she looked the maiden once more, Tears blurred my vision as I caught her body as it fell, colour returned to her hair, and the black gaze faded to the brilliant green, eyes still wide, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

 _Why?_ Her mind asked me the voice in my mind breaking and growing faint

"Because you're not a monster Ghost" I whispered as I brushed strands of hair from her face, and cradled her to me

 _But why?_ The voice asked, faint now I could not stop the tears flowing

"Because . . . because I love you" the confession hit me hard, the green eyes welled with tears, and the faintest smile touched her lips

 _I. . ._

And then the voice was gone.


	28. Chapter 28

When I awoke I was lying on a bed, naked but for a blue paper gown, the soft beep of machines by my side. Where was I? I thought

Ghost!

I sat bolt upright, the pain around me protesting all in one, an IV yanked free from my hand spraying the white sheets with blood. A young woman entered the room, dark blue nurse scrubs she looked at me both with concern and with fear. I ignored her as she tried to lay me back down, I looked about wildly, I needed to find Ghost, I needed to get to her!

Then suddenly I couldn't move, my arms froze in their flailing position and the nurse backed away. My eyes twitched but they too were locked. And then a familiar face moved into my view. Wizbit.

"Calm the fuck down or you'll get us thrown out" he said with a growl. _What was Wizbit doing here?_ "you're not looking calm" he noted, slowly the spell softened and I was able to move again, the mage turned to the nurse and murmured something to her, she nodded and left the room. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked me, he walked to the bedside table and poured water into a small plastic cup handing it to me. I took it and took a sip, the water cold my stomach clenched as I swallowed.

Wizbit looked at me expectantly "I . . ." I began then coughed, my throat dry and cracked, I took another drink until I was sure I could continue "I was on the roof, Ghost . . . she . . ." my mind was reeling _she was dead, I had killed her_. My eyes burned and Wizbit sighed softly refilling my glass

"They found you on the roof, you wouldn't let go of her" he said "There wasn't time to get you to come around. Lathain had to knock you out" _he had?_ I absent mindedly rubbed my jaw, it felt like a good deal of beard growth, _how long had I been out?_ "About six days" Wizbit said guessing my question "I've been here for five helping Doc" he said, I looked up at him, he sighed heavily "She's still in intensive care" he said "I make no promises"

"She's alive?" I could not keep the hope from my voice, I tried to move again but Wizbit raised his hand, I stopped moving, but at least this time it was under my own control.

"For now" he said "but like I said, I make no promises"

"I did this" I said, mostly to myself

"No" Wizbit said "You did no such thing, I was there Whisperer" he said "I saw the fall out of the last time Ghost went over the edge, if anything what you did, you released her" I couldn't meet his eye, I wanted to shout and scream at him, but I didn't have the energy. Every ounce of my being was pushing for Ghost to survive, she _had_ to. It didn't matter what Wizbit thought, I knew what I had done.

"What about Torrin?" I asked, now it was Wizbit's turn to avoid my eyes, he shook his head "Does she know?" I asked

"Probably" Wizbit said, he sighed "She probably saw it happen, when Ghost sparked before it was because someone hit a chord, hit a deep pain in her heart, for her to have blown the way that she did . . ." he trailed off, I understood, Torrin had been that chord. "I need to get back to Doc" he said "You should clean up, I'll be by later to do another healing session" he walked out leaving me to amble from my bed to the tiny bathroom, the bright fluorescent light lit up my face in the small mirror above the sink.

A stranger looked back at me.

My face was scarred and blistered, fresh pink skin healing in places, probably Wizbit's handywork. The hair on one half of my head was gone, skin blistered there, I had no eyebrows or eye lashes and a dark circle of blisters around my eyes where my glasses should be. My beard was growing through in patches between the broken skin, I looked a mess.

I glanced down at my hands, those too were marred by scars and signs of fresh healing, the heat had taken some of my finger prints away, I smirked to myself, _now that might actually come in handy_ , I thought.

A nurse came into my room to check my vitals, this time I was calm and as patient as I was able as she applied a cream to my skin. She produced soap, a towel and after some arguments she also gave me a razor. I spent a lot of time trying hard not to add to the damage on my face.

"Wow you look like shit" a voice said as I came from the bathroom, now wearing jeans and an open shirt I felt decidedly more human. Lathain sat on the end of my bed. He too was blistered but not to the same extent, though his arm was in a sling. KC sat beside him, her neck in a brace, but otherwise she looked alright.

"I don't think you should have that" I said noting the knife stuck in her belt, she tried to shrug

"No-one here cares" she said "Doc practically owns the place so there are a lot of runners here" she said.

"Where's Penumbra?" I asked expecting the see the huge troll behind me

"Gone" said Lathain "he was pretty badly burnt, Doc saw to the basics after we got here but he paid his respects to Tor then left" he looked at me a moment "He carried Tor's body back here" he said "He thought Ghost might have wanted that" I nodded, Lathain was right, she would want the chance to say her goodbyes.

Just then the floor shook slightly, the lights rattled in their steel casing, I was ready to dive to the corridor when Lathain spoke

"She'll calm down in a moment" he said calmly.

"She?" I asked "You mean Ghost?"

Lathain nodded "the last time this happened she had to be sedated when she woke up, and last time was nothing compared to this" he said "this could go on for a few days"

He wasn't wrong, the hospital was under careful lock down for over two weeks, three counting the time I had been knocked out. Doc and Wizbit were the only ones to see to Ghost in that time. I was not permitted to see her until her emotional stability was assured. It had been three days since the last tremor of the building and Doc deemed her safe enough to approach. I waited outside her room, idly running my hands over my thin hair. It had taken a while but it looked as though it would all grow back, though on the left side where the scarring had been the worst the hair grew back grey instead of my natural brown.

"Don't talk about Torrin" Doc warned before she opened the door, I nodded in promise "And be aware that she might not be the same person at the end of all this" I already knew that, but didn't feel it needed any comment. I straightened my collar and walked into Ghost's room.

She lay on the bed, her eyes on the window over looking a beech tree. Her hair was it's natural red and eyes were once again the green that I remembered so well. She turned her head to me as I entered and she smiled. Softly and with some hesitation. I moved to her bedside and took her hand in mine, she looked frail, but there were no scars that I could see, her skin was still flawless but for her lightning scars. My eyes traced over them and I realised there was something different. The scars had moved, as though someone had rubbed out the old ones to redraw the pattern.

"You got a new tattoo" I said, the line sounded stupid to my ears, but it was all I could think to say, Christ what was I supposed to say to her?

"I figured I needed a new look" she said, her voice quiet "I think I prefer your old one" she said reaching to run her hand through my short hair "you'll grow it out wont you?" she asked "only you look old with short hair" I smiled, the laugh started to rise but couldn't quite reach the surface.

"Ghost I . . ." I began

"Ssshhh" she cooed softly "you don't have to say anything, you did what you had to" she said "I remember everything" she said. I bowed my head as I thought of Torrin. "You could have told me earlier" she said, my face twisted as my thoughts tried to think what she was talking about "your little confession" she said with a smile

"Oh" I said "Well it seemed like the best time to tell you" suddenly realising what she meant. I don't now why but in that moment I felt uncomfortable, _it's the big secrets_ , Lathain had said. I had almost lost her, I pushed aside my thoughts, now seemed as good a time as any, whilst she was here, with me.

"I'd like to hear it again" she said shyly. I smiled and brought her hand to my lips placing a kiss on the back of it

"I love you Ghost" I said, I watched a tear roll down her face as she smiled

"I love you too"


	29. Chapter 29

Epilogue

The screen crackled with static a moment, lighting up the dark room, the envelope on the coffee table cast a small shadow as a face appeared on the screen. The light illuminating the crucifix clasped so tightly

"Is this bloody thing even on?" a gruff voice said and the image shook as the speaker hit the camera

"Just get on with it" a voice in the background began

"Yeah, yeah" Torrin sat facing the camera, scratching his beard in thought a moment "what the fuck do I say?" he asked

"Anything you want, that's the point" said the formless voice "You should know, it was your idea after all" it said

"Fine, fine" growled Torrin. He moved back a little to allow the camera to see more of him, he looked younger in the image. He sighed heavily and regarded the screen

"If you're watching this, then I am most definitely dead, my signal has stopped transmitting, I'm gone, done. I am dust in the wind"

"Jesus Tor" the voice hissed

" _Alright_ " Tor stressed "lets start over" he coughed "if you're watching this then it is likely that I am no longer with you, that I am now with the Lord" he said raising an eyebrow at the figure behind the screen "that better?"

"Much" said the voice

"So . . . normally we don't leave messages, normally we don't get the opportunity to say good bye. The runners life is always one of danger, every mission could be your last. I left that world behind" he said "I left it when you came into my life because I needed to protect you" he growled a moment in frustration "I'm not doing this very well" he complained "look I . . ."

He paused, hand searching for the crucifix around his neck, he took a moment to pull his thoughts together

"I am not the man you think I am" he said "I have done things that I am not proud of, most of my life in fact I wish I had the power to re-write, but you . . . you I am proud of. You grew up good, in fact you grew up better than anyone could have hoped for or expected. You changed in so many ways and that's not all, you changed me" he sighed again

"This isn't my forte" he admitted "I'm not one for mushy crap but you need to know this stuff, you need to know that you changed how I see the world. I went from an aggressor to a protector, you made me a better man.

"At the moment you're sat in a hospital bed, Doc doesn't know if you'll wake up, but I do. I know because you're strong, but if you're watching this then it means someone is trying to hurt you again, if you're watching this then I've had to go back to my old life to protect you. And I want you to know that I would do anything to protect you. You're my family and . . . I . . . love you" he said, behind the screen there was a snigger

"Sorry" and a cough, Torrin growled

"Bite me" he said to the voice, then turned back to the camera "Look, I've spent a long time watching over you, I know now that there are others that feel the same, and I'm certain as time goes on that there will be more. Your family is growing, you're drawing people in close to you, and I want that for you" he said "I want you to have a family, friends of your own. I guess I'm trying to say that it's OK that you'll move on, that you'll find someone. I want you to find someone. They'll never be worthy of you of course, but then in my eyes no-one is, but . . . I hope that I can be man enough to bow out for the right person, the one that you chose for yourself" he said

"With this recording there is a file, hard copy only. It details everything in my life, everything that I've done and everything that I am, there are no more secrets now. I just hope that after you read it you don't think any less of me

"Take care of yourself, I might not be around in person, but I'll always be there for you, I will always protect you" he looked past the camera and nodded. The screen went dark.

All was still for a moment in the dark room, the sound of rain began to fall against the window. The darkness flared for a moment as the match came into life, the envelope lay unopened in the outstretched hand as the greedy flames flickered out to consume it.

She watched it burn.


End file.
